The Journey to Self-Discovery with Dr. Lanecha Conner

In this episode of the Balanced Badass Podcast, Tara welcomes the first-ever guest, Dr. Lanecha, known as The ConnectHER. They discuss the importance of reconnecting with oneself amidst burnout, particularly for ambitious millennial women.

Dr. Lanecha shares her journey from losing touch with herself to reclaiming her identity through self-reflection, therapy, and setting boundaries. They talk about the challenges millennial women face in prioritizing self-care while juggling multiple roles and explore the concept of self-reunion.

The episode is packed with actionable insights on balancing personal and professional life, maintaining authenticity, and the courage it takes to align with one's true self.

*Note: The book referenced in the episode is Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself by Nedra Glover Tawwab.

To connect with Dr. Lanecha:

• TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@drlanecha)
• Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/drlanecha/)
• Threads (https://www.threads.net/@drlanecha)
• Iconic Reunion (https://www.drlanecha.com/iconic-reunion)

00:00 Introduction and Welcome
05:30 The Connect Her: Origin Story
11:00 Journey of Self-Reunion
13:45 Burnout and Identity Crisis
30:34 Balancing Multiple Roles
34:14 Embracing Imperfection
38:35 Defining a Balanced Badass
42:57 Final Thoughts and Farewell

Need a little more balance and a lot more badass in your life? Check out my 1:1 coaching sessions designed to help you tackle your biggest challenges, manage stress, and create a personalized plan for success. Your first 30-minute session is free! Visit tarakermiet.com to get started. 

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Welcome
• 6:16 The Connect Her: Origin Story
• 11:46 Journey of Self-Reunion
• 14:31 Burnout and Identity Crisis
• 32:04 Balancing Multiple Roles
• 35:44 Embracing Imperfection
• 41:28 Defining a Balanced Badass
• 45:50 Final Thoughts and Farewell

Transcript

Tara: [00:00:00] right. Hey, y'all. Welcome back to another episode of the Balanced Badass Podcast. I am super excited for today's episode because this is our first ever guest interview.

Dr. Lanecha: um,

Tara: told Dr. Lenika earlier that this is like, We are test driving this. She's my guinea pig and I'm so happy she's here. I have been blessed, let me tell you, to connect with so many amazing folks out there thanks to the power of social media and the interwebs.

Dr. Lanecha: little

Tara: to start bringing these folks in to share their expertise with you. So today we are talking about reconnecting with ourselves in the midst of burnout.

Dr. Lanecha: the,

Tara: who knows exactly how to help us do that.

Dr. Lanecha: the,

Tara: known as the Connect Her, is a therapist, coach, wife, mom, amazing human and all around powerhouse who specializes in helping ambitious [00:01:00] millennial women find their way back to their authentic selves.

Her mission is to empower women to rewrite their stories, transform self doubt into iconic self belief, and lead with resilience and authenticity. I have absolutely no doubt that you're going to walk away from this conversation with some powerful, actionable insights that you can use right away. So without further ado, I just want to welcome our first ever guest to the Balance Badass podcast.

Welcome my friend. 

Dr. Lanecha: how are you? I am so excited to be here. This is going to be an awesome conversation when you and I connect. It's always a great time. So I have no doubt that this is going to be wonderful. A conversation that is just full of insight, empowerment, knowledge, and you'll get to experience my personality.

Well, the listeners will get a chance to experience my [00:02:00] personality. Also, thank you for allowing me to be the first guest on your podcast. I am very

Tara: Girl, I should be thanking you for, um, jumping in on this experiment and, and just so my listeners know, I had the amazing privilege of being a guest on Dr. Lanika's podcast, the Mindset Your Business. And, um, if you're not listening, make sure you tune in, I'm sure at the end, we'll share how to find it and I'll include links, but it's amazing to see women doing this work and to connect, like I said, to connect with folks like you.

I mean, I think we immediately. Just felt that vibe with each other and that energy. And so excited to just continue the conversation kind of where we left it off almost. so with that, I do want to start with an icebreaker question, and this is going to be a question that I'm going to ask every guest on the podcast.

And that is, what is something that you are just [00:03:00] loving in your life right now?

Dr. Lanecha: So, before I answer that really quickly, it's LaMesha.

Tara: Oh my gosh.

Dr. Lanecha: fine. That's fine. Don't, don't redo it. We're, we're going to roll with it. It's okay.

Tara: know, I am so sorry.

Dr. Lanecha: don't apologize. I

Tara: No, I should apologize because. Names are very important and I recognize that. So thank you for correcting me and getting it right. Dr. Lenisha, everybody. She's amazing.

You're

Dr. Lanecha: have right now. It might sound cliche, but I have worked very, very hard to get to this place of clarity, this place of peace, and also a place of determination where it allows me to do the work that I'm doing right now. [00:04:00] Now that's on a, you know, more service. Base level of what I'm loving right now, but the other thing that I'm loving right now is this Lip color that I have on you and I were talking about it I have it lined with max night moth and the lip color is rich auntie by the rip, the lip bar. So I am an auntie. not rich yet, but it's coming. So as Tara reminded me, I am manifesting the rich part, but

Tara: through the lips from your mouth to God's ears or whomever you. All a

Dr. Lanecha: I'm putting it in the universe. I'm putting out that energy and I'm asking God to bring on the richness in my life.

Tara: I love to hear what folks are loving in their life right now. I think so often we get so bogged down [00:05:00] in What's wrong with the world and with the life. And I know you and I have connected a lot in what's going on and in the world right now. And it's very easy for that to take over.

And so that's why I really want to focus on the positive and what you're loving in your life, because I think it's so important to really center yourself around that and to remind yourself on a regular basis. So thank you so much for sharing that. And I'm going to kind of just jump right in now to, to my question.

So I love that you refer to yourself as the connect her. Um, and so I really just want to know from, from your perspective, like, can you share the story behind that title? How did it come to be? And maybe talk about your own journey, um, where it has led you into focusing on self reunion for ambitious millennial women.

Dr. Lanecha: Yes. So the term connect her there's, I'll talk about my [00:06:00] journey. So I had. Have two teens and they are always saying, and I think even Meg Thee Stallion has a song that's that's called her. as I have been on this journey of reuniting with myself over the past, I want to really for the past year, but I think it started about a year and a half, almost two years ago, where I was noticing that I was disconnected from myself. And so I was. When I imagine what my life is like, I always say that. I want to be her and I get to define what her is and her is healing evolving and remarkable and I brought up my team that I have teens because the kids are always talking about I'm him. I'm her, you know, and I'm like, well, what does her mean? Uh, because obviously I'm not him. I identify as a her. So. For me, that means [00:07:00] healing, evolving and remarkable. And that is something that I am. noticed that I was very disconnected from myself. So I had to reconnect or reunite with myself. And I got so good at doing that for me that it led me to wanting to, or to helping, millennial women do so.

So the title came from. very deep place and a very deep desire to bridge the gap between where women feel disconnected, starting with myself, um, feeling stuck and then moving into the iconic versions of themselves that they, they're destined to be that many of them desire to be. My journey to earning the title was It was a very sad, very [00:08:00] unorganized, very just self doubting place.

I felt lost. I didn't know who I was. I was prioritizing everybody else. And so, through self reflection, therapy, inner work, which, I'm still working on as

Tara: I think that's.

Dr. Lanecha: life, I realized the key to becoming, uh, reunited with myself and whole, wasn't about like that external validation or status quo. external, but it was really about getting back to the essence of who I am. Um, and who I want to show up as and the, the impact I want to make in this world. I am I am a mom, I am a business owner in the mental health space. [00:09:00] And through all of that, I. I had forgotten about me.

Tara: Hmm.

Dr. Lanecha: I focus on ambitious millennial women, helping them reclaim themselves because I understand how easy it is to get caught up in your roles, your expectations, the self doubt. And so becoming the connector, um, has been about. Guiding not only myself, but other women, millennial women to their authentic selves so that they can own their stories and get out there and make that remarkable impact. So, so that's the journey, um, that led me towards becoming the connector.

Tara: I love that. I love, you know, hearing how healing really became the foundation. It sounds like for that and you bringing up identity and, you know, there's so many aspects to all of our [00:10:00] identities and what we bring to the table. And so often, and I think this is especially for women, I don't have the scientific research behind it, but I think just speaking from my own experience as a woman, it is so easy to give up our core identity for the other identities that we carry on our shoulders.

And so I really, I appreciate that you mentioned that and that, you know, you talk about self reunion. So I'm going to kind of get into that a little bit too, because. I, I would love to know from your perspective, like what personally, what did that look like for you? What did the process you walked through?

What was that like? And how, how do you define self reunion? How do you define coming back to, to finding yourself and how do you go about doing that for those of us that

Dr. Lanecha: Mm-hmm

Tara: want to do that or are navigating similar challenges or who resonated with your story that you shared about how you became the [00:11:00] connector?

Dr. Lanecha: Mm-hmm And so because we're talking about like self reunion, immense burnout, I have to talk about burnout because burnout for me, like we just talked about, identity burnout for me felt like an identity crisis. It really wasn't just physical or emotional exhaustion. It was a, it truly was that deep sense of losing myself. I remember vividly. So a bit about me, I am from Chicago, Illinois, born and born and raised on the South side, Englewood to be exact. If you know anything about Chicago, then you know. Englewood, but that is where I was born and raised. So I was born there and lived there most of my life until I decided to move to Las Vegas. I lived [00:12:00] in, well, let me be correct because I hate when people say that they're from Chicago when they're really from like a far suburb of Chicago. So I didn't live in Las Vegas. I lived in Henderson, Nevada. There is where I attribute finding sisterhood, finding, um, myself, really. because there was some traumatic Things that I experienced in my hometown of Chicago.

So I moved in search of a change of scenery, hoping that I would be able to find myself as they say, and I put that in air quotes because finding yourself looks different for everybody. So what I was going to find, I don't know, I didn't know what that looked like, but I knew that I wanted to give myself an opportunity to get out of the, the, how miserable I felt when I. was home in [00:13:00] Chicago. And so in Nevada, found sisterhood. I met my husband there and It was just, it was awesome all around. The weather was perfect. It was hot, but it was perfect for me. I love the weather. I do not enjoy the cold weather. But in that, was right after, I want to say, after we got married in 2021, we quickly moved across country. And by quick, I mean like two months later, we moved across the country. To Georgia. So bringing, having said all of that, I remember sitting in the closet my closet in Georgia and really asking myself like, well, who, like, who are you? Like, [00:14:00] what is going on? You're not doing the things you want, you want to do anymore.

And if I can be honest, how honest and transparent can I get on this podcast?

Tara: Girl, we are all about honesty here.

Dr. Lanecha: Oh, I did. I wasn't doing my hair. I wasn't like keeping up with myself, my, my physical appearance. And it's not all about that again, but that is something that I enjoy. I enjoyed, you know, trying new styles. I enjoy playing in makeup or even learning how to do makeup for myself. I enjoy putting on clothes and just. I subscribe to the, if you look good, you feel good. Now, will it solve everything? No, but at least if it's a mood booster for me.

Tara: Yeah.

Dr. Lanecha: I wasn't doing any of those things. I would wake up, you know, work from home, [00:15:00] um, putting on the same, well, not the same, the exact same, but like same outfits, leggings, sweatshirt, leggings, Crop top, leggings, this, that.

It was, it was just, I wasn't doing the things that I enjoyed anymore. So that deep sense of losing myself was really taking a toll on me. My process of self reunion began with. Accepting, and identifying the disconnect. I asked myself those hard questions and I answered those questions.

That's the thing. We often know the to ask, but do we always answer them now? But I, I was asking myself the questions about like, when did I stop choosing? You know, what am I doing? That's misaligned with who I am. And I found that I was placing most of [00:16:00] my, worth, my everything into the roles. being a wife, being a mom, being a business owner, a friend, a daughter, you know, family member, all of the things for everybody else. And I was not putting myself on this plate of things and people that I was responsible for. So I leaned, I started to lean into tools, like a routine when I first started. Routine where what the only routine I had was getting up in the morning and drinking a cup of coffee And taking my dog outside. That was it. I needed more. I needed to do

Tara: Yeah.

Dr. Lanecha: I started creating routines practicing being consistent journaling And, and then ultimately therapy so that I can peel back the layers of what burnout was looking like for me, [00:17:00] what I was experiencing and ultimately getting back to myself.

So gradually, I started to redefine what my boundaries were. Awesome book that I read that helped me during that process was. Set boundaries, find peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab. Awesome. Look it up. I promise you, you won't be let down. Nedra is a therapist out here the, in the game. And she is using her skills and her expertise to help people. expertise to do great work. So I love that. I recommend that book wholeheartedly. Um, and then I started giving myself permission to prioritize my needs and prioritize them unapologetically. So now

Tara: Mm

Dr. Lanecha: me like, you know, who comes first? I used to say, you know, my husband and my kids, then me. [00:18:00] But I had to take a look at that I am responsible in some way for my husband and my kids. then I needed to say, well, I need to put myself first. I need to fill my cup so I can continue to pour into them. that was a tough, I'm not going to lie. That was a tough pill to swallow, a tough reality to accept. But now I love it.

Tara: hmm. Yeah, I

Dr. Lanecha: They don't come before me all. Uh,

Tara: think that's that's so not to interrupt you, but I just want to highlight that for the listeners because there is so much power that comes in that realization. And I commend you for your Taking that ownership over your health, your wellbeing for recognizing the small signs. Like I know you said that, [00:19:00] you know, our appearance isn't everything.

And I firmly believe the same as you, like, it's definitely a good mood booster. Like anytime I'm feeling sick, if I at least like shower, I feel 10 times better. Right.

Dr. Lanecha: Okay.

Tara: part of what brings you happiness and lights you up, and you are noticing that that is dwindling, that you are not doing that as much,

Dr. Lanecha: Okay.

Tara: the whole like oxygen mask thing. Like if you don't put it, you got to put on your oxygen mask before you take care of everybody else.

But there is truth in that because if you don't take care of yourself and you are [00:20:00] down and out. And can't serve,

Dr. Lanecha: Yep. All right.

Tara: then you're not, you're not doing any good for anybody else either.

Dr. Lanecha: Nope. And even with the oxygen mask, um, example, if you are not well enough to even put on your own oxygen mask, you will not get to the place where you can put on to help someone else put theirs on. So we must take care of ourselves to equip us to be able to take care of others. have to, we have to,

Tara: That's so,

Dr. Lanecha: around it.

Tara: yeah, that is, that is so deep. That's, Ooh, that just hit me in the heart. I got chills with that. Cause you know, I always talk about, and I hear a lot too about self care, self care is so important. And I do caution folks when I'm talking with them that self care is not going to fix your burnout.

Dr. Lanecha: Mm

Tara: But. If you're not taking care of yourself, then you will never fix your burnout because it's the foundation that gets you kind of [00:21:00] back to equilibrium before you can then dig into the bigger drivers of what's burning you out in the first place. Like you've gotta, you gotta focus on the foundation before you can build upon it.

So I love the whole concept of if you're not even well enough to be able to put your oxygen mask on. I like that. I might have to use that at some point. I will credit you for sure, 

Dr. Lanecha: Yeah, you, you it's, it's important. It's important. And so to wrap up, um, the question that you just asked me, you know, I want to talk about for others. I define. Self reunion as the process of truly returning to yourself after you've been pulled in so many directions and it's easy to keep going down this path.

Keep going down this path. It's even, you know, moderately easy to say, Oh, ran into some traffic. Let me divert and go this way. We will figure that out. But for many [00:22:00] of the women that I coach who are millennial women, They have a very hard problem with getting back to themselves or even, you know, accepting that they need to reunite with themselves before they can everybody else, before they can start to tackle the burnout.

Also, uh, you've got to know who you are. And so self reunion truly, truly is about reclaiming the essence of who you are. A reunion of your core essence of and it requires a lot of courage. That's one thing we don't talk about a lot of. We say, you know, find yourself or get back to the real you. And then we start to talk about being authentic and being the authentic you. it really does take a lot of courage. to [00:23:00] do that, to let go of the societal expectations, to rebuild the self belief and create a life that feels aligned and purposeful, takes a lot of courage. So to anyone who is thinking about the journey of reuniting with themself, who is on that journey and just quite sure, or if you successfully reunited with yourself and You're feeling amazing about it. I'm proud of you because I know that took some courage to do. And I just want to celebrate you, uh, for sure,

Tara: I think, you know, courage, and it can be scary, right, which is why it takes courage. And, you know, you mentioned how it's hard, especially for millennial women, to do that work to almost kind of, like you said, instead of divert directions, reverse directions to get back to, the [00:24:00] starting point of your journey.

Why do you think it is, I'm going rogue here, why do you think it is that challenging for, for millennial women to do that? What makes it so hard for us to, to be able to do that openly and easily?

Dr. Lanecha: because the narratives that we've been taught as millennial women are to continue to go, um, find the next thing, be perfect, um, do what you need to do. Keep your head down. Don't ruffle any feathers, especially for. Black women, women. I identify as a black woman. And I know for me the narrative was, you know, go to work. Do the best that you can. Keep your head down. Don't ruffle any feathers. If you disagree, don't tell anybody about it. Work, work, work your way to the bones

Tara: [00:25:00] Okay.

Dr. Lanecha: they feel like they have this obligation to be there, be the go to for everybody else, that if they take the time to Focus on themselves, then things will fall apart, especially when we're wearing. I have many responsibilities. Why mom, you know, even for those of us who are not, why, or even for the women who are not because I am a wife, the women

Tara: Okay.

Dr. Lanecha: not married or have children, it can be difficult to because you're often in. for other people in your family. At least this, this [00:26:00] are the things that I'm hearing that makes it hard for millennial women to connect with themselves. And then also when you're reuniting with When you're on a self reunion journey, that means that you have to go back to the past really uncover some things about your past. And for some folks, they don't want to do that. They feel

Tara: Mm hmm.

Dr. Lanecha: too hurtful that it will, will, will reach traumatize them to relive those But I am a firm believer that everything that we experience in life Life has taught us a lesson about in some way, and it also impacts the way we navigate our lives, uh, currently or in present day. So, as we're talking about burnout, like, okay, you're burnt out because you're trying [00:27:00] to do all of the things. Where did you learn that from? Where did that first

Tara: Mm hmm.

Dr. Lanecha: show up for you? And

Tara: hmm. Mm hmm.

Dr. Lanecha: help,

Tara: Yeah,

Dr. Lanecha: us get back to comfortable enough to reunite with ourselves.

Tara: I was actually just talking to someone this morning over coffee about, uh, how we often like suppress a lot of the uncomfortable things and that stuff eventually boils up and festers and it manifests in so many different ways in our body, but we were specifically talking about burnout and I was talking about how, um, when I talk about burnout, I think about, you know, There's like five Cs that drive burnout, and one of them is convictions.

And convictions a lot of times stem from, you know, how you were conditioned, how you grew up, like things that you said, like you were told as a black woman, [00:28:00] ways to behave and how to act in the workplace and in just your environment that, you know, you have to, you have to really fight those. ingrained pieces in you and you have to really dissect them.

That's why I always like try to say really approach your life as you're the scientist and the experiment all at the same time, because you want to have that objective look, but also you want to try things to see what's going to fit and who you are, because who you are stems from your background. But also that doesn't mean that you can't be someone else in the future from what you learn from those experiences.

Dr. Lanecha: Oh, I agree. I agree. And often say, be curious about yourself.

Tara: Yeah.

Dr. Lanecha: we are often so curious about how to get a raise. We're curious about how to show up more on social media. We're curious about for the business owner, how to [00:29:00] make sales. We're curious about all of these. things, but we're never curious about us. And that is what's going to get you for the leaders to your team, to trust you more for you to be more connected with your team. But it first starts with being curious about yourself.

Tara: No, I know. I love that. I love that so much, especially because at least for me, I know when I'm, I can be the hardest critic on myself. And if, if I identify when I go through like therapy and I find something and I'm starting to uncover something, I can like beat myself up over that, but there's so much freedom and almost like a weight is lifted when you just look at it and kind of go, huh, I wonder.

I wonder why I am responding that way. Like there, it, it releases some of the pressure and some of the responsibility, I think, and just allows you to really question it and look [00:30:00] into it and explore it a little bit more too, and, and to have that fresh perspective. So I love that. Um, all right. So I want to, you mentioned this already, but I really do want to kind of dig into all the different facets of your identity.

Um, and. Just kind of what are your takes? How do you personally balance all of the roles that you have and still be successful and maybe give some advice to the listeners about how they can do that for themselves as well.

Dr. Lanecha: Yes, balancing everything that I have going on, uh, Mom, I'm a therapist. I'm also a coach. I am a dog mom as well and newly added mom role, a plant mom as well. And my babies are thriving. Might I say, I just really

Tara: I love it.

Dr. Lanecha: a moment to pat myself on the back cause [00:31:00] I

Tara: huge. Mm

Dr. Lanecha: Um, But balancing that I have in my life going on right now requires two things for me, harmony and intentionality. I have learned to accept that balance Really and truly is not about giving equal time, energy and attention to everything. For me personally, it's about aligning my priorities to what matters most in the moment. And listen, now I know there will be someone that says, wow, you put your business over your family and vice versa some days. And the honest answer is yes. Yes, the

Tara: hmm.

Dr. Lanecha: answer is yes, because sometimes I need to [00:32:00] prioritize my business so that I can continue to care for my family. Sometimes it's a must that I prioritize my family because I've been so invested in my business or because I have, I'm sacrificing the connection with my family.

For the sake of my business. I'll be honest. Sometimes I get so focused on my business and making sure that I'm marketing and then the money is coming in. Um, I really get focused on that, that I miss out on moments. And one of the reasons why I said I wanted to work, continue to work from home and ultimately what forced me.

I won't say forced. Force push me to jump into entrepreneurship full time is because I wanted to be there for the moment with my Children. I wanted to be able to make their [00:33:00] events. My son is in the band. My daughter plays volleyball like they are in high school into their own and I want to be present for those things. My husband has a Demanding career where it takes them away from the home. I didn't want both of us to be Um and away from the home. So that's why I still work from home. But yes to be quite honest Yes, sometimes I have to prioritize my business over And not in a way that is neglectful, I'll say, or detrimental, but sometimes for me, it's like, Hey, I got to do what I got to do. But I honor my roles by setting boundaries. and communicating my needs. Um, for example, just as much as I learned my business again, I had to take the time and give the same amount of [00:34:00] urgency and prioritization to my family, for sure. you, you, you asked me about what advice I would give leaders thought about this. For a while, my advice would be for leaders to embrace imperfection. This hamster wheel in search of perfection is draining. if I may let you in on a tip, you'll never get to destination perfection. So start to embrace and be okay with not being perfect in my eyes. We are all imperfectly made imperfectly perfect.

If, if, you know, for those of you that just can't let go of, of the word perfect, we are imperfectly perfect. And. [00:35:00] Balance is, balance isn't like a static achievement. It's sometimes this, uh, dance, you know, that involves you, that involves your priorities. Like here I have to listen to this song for a little bit longer.

Oh! Giving this song too much attention. Let me get this one. You know, it is this dance. And so you're not going to achieve balance. Um, just by saying, okay, I'm going to do this or just being in a, in a static space, you know, there has to be some movement. So give yourself grace, ask for help and delegate when, when possible.

And when you need to, but most importantly, remember. That you cannot pour into others you don't have anything to pour. Going back to [00:36:00] that oxygen mask example, if you are not well enough to put on your own oxygen mask, you will not even be in a position where you can help someone put theirs on.

Tara: I'm just going to let that sit for everybody for a hot 2nd, because you just took us to church a little bit on that. I think, Um, I do really, I love how you framed balance as not a destination. Um, earlier in the podcast, when I first started, I had an episode where I talked about balance is more of a process and. It's, you know, similar to, to what you were talking even earlier. It's an evolution.

It's, it's, you have to know yourself. You have to be self aware. You have to do that work and reunite with yourself to then know how you prioritize your energy. And that's how I see balance. Balance is about where you're putting energy. [00:37:00] And my analogy with balance is always like, if you think about a gymnast on a balance beam, they're rarely ever on there sturdy.

All the time, they're constantly reshifting their weight, um, moving their feet in the right direction. A lot of times they're wobbling. Sometimes they fall off. That to me is like when you realize, Oh, I've been spending too much time on this end. I need to spend more time on this end. But what you always notice about a gymnast is whether they fall off or not, they always get back on and complete.

Their process, and that's what I see balance being like, is it's this ebb and flow, this kind of, um, you know, you breathe in, you have to breathe out, you, your heart races, then your heart has to slow down at some point, um, there, there's nothing in life that is static, in my opinion, and I think, I just love that point of, you know, [00:38:00] It's not a destination.

It's really all about process. You will never reach perfection. I am a recovering perfectionist. So anytime somebody says that I'm like, yes, I'm the good Lord wanted to remind me of this as well. Uh, so thank you. So much for sharing that wisdom and like I said, for taking us to church and we'll pass that collection plate here, you know, shortly.

Um, so anyways, I, I want to recognize our time. And so I'm going to head on to my last question for you for your parting words. And You know, as you know, this, this podcast is all about being balanced badasses. So it's all about balanced living with badass results. Um, that's my whole point of doing this.

And so I'm curious from your perspective, how do you define being a balanced badass in your own life?

Dr. Lanecha: well, being a balanced [00:39:00] badass means being yourself, owning your story, learning your story. Some of us, um, unapologetically while creating space for grace, compassion, and rest. Listen, be yourself. Even on this podcast, I have shown up as me, which in years past has been very difficult for me to do because I too am a recovering people pleaser and a recovering perfectionist. And I understand that I am not perfect. I don't even want to be perfect. because that, that comes with a lot of pressure. I want to be able to make mistakes. I want to be able to live out loud, lead out loud and lead with myself. Um, I'm wearing, I wore this shirt because I know that you talk to leaders.

So leaders, I say, lead out loud, lead with you. You're the full [00:40:00] you. Um, Getting back to what being a balanced badass means for me, um, it's recognizing that success is not merely about achievement. It's about alignment and purpose for me. And I've been on this journey of understanding, you know, um, and really following, embodying what my purpose is in this moment, it has been so awesome, for me and it really warms my heart. Um, being a balanced badass also looks like being present in my roles. Uh, creating that harmony and being very intentional about that. Um, whether that means showing up for my family, in my business, for my clients, for myself, which I think by this point in the episode, everybody knows, and I'm always going to choose.

showing [00:41:00] up for myself. Um, but as I do that, it also means staying true to my values, um, which are being authentic, being community oriented, um, leading through service. And I often have to remind myself that I'm allowed to pivot I'm allowed to pause. I'm allowed to take up space as I need to. And so to wrap that all up, a balanced badass is someone who knows that her well being is the foundation of her impact and she protects it fiercely.

And by she, she is me.

Tara: I just got chills on that one too. Uh, thank you so, so much. Friend, um, this has been a pleasure. I've learned so much from you. I have no doubt that our [00:42:00] listeners are walking away with at least one nugget of information, feeling inspired. And I really hope if you're listening and tuning in that you take the time to prioritize yourself, that.

Dr. Lanisha serves as your guide and your role model that you should be unapologetic about putting yourself first because as a reminder, she said, and reminded us that if you are not well enough to put on your own oxygen mask, there is no way that you can serve anyone else. And I know as leaders, most of us get into this world.

To serve others. So once again, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom, some practical strategies for taking us to church. And, um, before we wrap up, I do want to ask you, can you let everyone know where they can find you, how they can connect with you? If there's anything kind of that you [00:43:00] want to let them know about your work, um, I want to give you that space to do so now.

Dr. Lanecha: Yes, thank you. Thank you so much. So you all can find me on social media. I spend most of my time on Tik Tok, Instagram. Threads for sure. Threads is Bay and coming soon YouTube. But you can find me everywhere at Dr. Laisha. That's D-R-L-A-N-E-C-H-A. A few things that I have going on right now, if you want to learn more about me, if you want to work with me, I have a podcast called the mindset, your business podcast. This podcast is designed dedicated to millennial women to amplify the stories and experiences of millennial women. So check me out there. I am also launching group coaching program for millennial women. [00:44:00] Yes. The program is called iconic It is a 12 week transformation. Formative journey. Well, you will learn how to reunite with yourself, reclaim your stories, learn to inspire and serve others utilizing my iconic framework to identify self doubt, cultivate self belief, own your unique stories, nurture your authenticity. Um, and influence through storytelling and to create lasting change in this world, which is something that we all desire, whether we know it or we say it, we all desire that. so throughout the program, you will leave with a, um, Reunion album, which is something, so I'm talking about this program because [00:45:00] I don't, it's not another program That you just learn a bunch of things and you leave with just so much knowledge It is a collaborative program for millennial women And it allows you to create your own reunion story based on the activities that we do So you will have this album that you can go back to in the future Should you ever feel like you are disconnected from yourself. And that program is launching January 7th,

Tara: That is so awesome. What a great way to start the new year and, you know, just get things. Off on the right foot. And I love the takeaway, the tangible takeaway of having something that you can revisit time and time again. So it's, it's really the gift that keeps on giving if you get to work with Dr.

LaNesha. So that's amazing. Love that. I'll be sure to add all the links to everything. Um, And even that book that you mentioned earlier about boundaries, I'm going to add the link to that as well and add that to my, to be read list for [00:46:00] 2025. Um, so yeah, so if you enjoyed today's episode, definitely, I'd love it if you take a moment to share it with a friend, leave a review, let us know how it felt tag us both on the social medias, whatever you feel like.

Um, We just would love to hear kind of your takeaways and your take homes from this. So other than that, we're going to wrap it up. Thank you so much again, Dr. Lenisha and everyone else. Um, make sure that you stay balanced, stay badass and make good choices.