We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marsha Flemmings a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Marsha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

I had not thought or desired to operate my own business. I never saw myself as the type of person that was built for entrepreneurship.

What i did have, since the age of 8 was a desire to become an author. Over the years, I did a lot of writing but being as critical as I use to be about my work, I would never take another step after writing because I would pick my work apart and automatically decide my writing was no good. However writing came naturally to me and this strong desire, that I cannot explain, never left me.

In January of 2016, a few weeks after confirming I was pregnant, true to my natural overthinking tendency, I started thinking about how I could ensure that all the lessons I had learned in my 35 years, up until that point, would always be accessible to him. As writing was so natural to me, I decided to write letters to my unborn son, and decided that I would keep writing him these letters until he was 21 years old.

These letters were meant to teach him more than what I had learned. I wanted those letters to speak to the man he could become and awaken him to the impact he could make and the knowledge of achieving anything as long as he is willing to do the work to achieve it and understand that in everything he should give himself two options, win or learn.

Over the course of the next two years, I had two pretty significant moments while writing these letters.

The first came, one afternoon, as I was sitting up in my bed, watching my then year old son on the monitor as he slept in his crib. The letter I was writing that day was telling him about the man that he could become. I was urging him to pursue the vision and undying dreams within him and how fear would sometimes try to creep in to hinder him. Suddenly, in that well sunny, well lit room, it felt like something had punched me in my gut, everything seemed to go dark and tears filled my eyes.

The thought that I would be telling Liam these great things he could be, do and have, but my life would not exemplify that to him, struck me in a way that I cannot describe. The thought that him watching me, would teach him something different than what I was hoping he would learn through my writing was overwhelming. Afterall, I had unrealized, in fact unpursued dreams. How could I tell him to live his biggest boldest life and do the work he is called to do when I, though doing well by many measures, knew there was so much more I desired to do and more impact I desired to have. It was almost the end of 2017 & that moment sobered me and ignited something in me that is beyond words and I became so laser focused on doing the work I was called to do and I planned and executed on a level I had not done before thereafter.

One of the things I did in that year was attend 3 conferences, strategically and specifically chosen. One book was for aspiring authors and speakers by a woman who was known to be one of the best and her own journey proved it. But that came after the next moment I’m about to share with you

The second sobering moment came one beautiful day in March 2018, I was on a flight from the Bahamas to Miami. I was heading to celebrate my dad’s 60th birthday. As I had often done, I had reserved a window seat and once we were up in the air and above the clouds, I cracked open my book of love letters to write yet another letter to Liam. Being by the ocean or being in the air some how gives me a sense of calm and I get lost in my writing in those two settings.

So it was most alarming to me, that as I was lost in writing yet another letter to Liam, I heard a voice, that I know to be my Creator, as if sitting somehow right next to me but also within me at the same time, say “this is the book you must publish”.

I slammed the book shut and sat back in my seat. Silent.

This could not be the book. These letters contained so many personal and private moments and experiences that were only meant for his eyes and truthfully, in my mind, would likely be meaningless to anyone else. However, as much as I was battling it internally, I had previous experiences that made me know that obedience was what I ought to choose in response to this instruction. So by the time the flight had landed, I knew this is what I must do.

Later that year I attended the conference I referenced before. There I learned strategies for self-publishing my first book. I value the benefits traditional education offers but I am wise enough to know that learning from someone who has walked the path you desire to walk and who may be 20, 50 or 100 steps ahead of you also holds immense value and can shortcut your time to success.

After that conference I worked with her and her team to help me publish my book and in the beginning of 2019, my first book was published.

That book was only the beginning and I didn’t know it. Ultimately it led to countless speaking engagements, interviews, clients, the launch of my business, a second book, From Leadership to Legacy – 11 Strategies to Build Connection & Create Massive Success and doing work that supports professional women transition from their “Career to Calling” and I get to support these women in building impact and income beyond their 9 to 5.

And while I am grateful for all of those, I am most thankful for a few readers of my first book, who reached out to share how they were in their darkest season, one contemplating ending his life.

I am also aware that had I not started where I was, in obedience, with the book that flowed out of me because it came from the purest part of me, everything else that followed, could not have. The work I do now as a Leadership Consultant & Coach would never have happened.

I went from idea to execution learning that clarity comes in the journey. We cannot arrive at the clarity we desire without embarking on the journey that gives it to us.

Marsha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

While I was fortunate to benefit from exceptional leadership early on in my career, before starting my business I spent 20 years building my career in hospitality and tourism and realized that, benefitting from great leadership is the experience of far too few people.

In many companies, people do not experience leaders who are willing to help them develop for the next level, share what they know and help them succeed. Many of those in decision making positions, don’t communicate well, don’t display a sincere interest in their team, they don’t have a vision for themselves or their team./ This lack of vision for themselves leads to a lot of insecurities that ultimately to a lot of mismanaging of the people they should be developing.

Throughout my career, I experienced rapid growth, especially in the first 10 years. However I noticed that despite that growth, about 8 years in, I still felt unsettled and had this persistent thought that I was meant to be doing more but had no idea what that more looked like. Naturally inclined to self development and growth, i thought it meant I should continue pursuing growth professionally. However as continued to receive promotions and assigned to some of the most challenging properties the company operated, I realized the thought of being “meant for more” only grew stronger.

I had enough self awareness to start to examine what work feels meaningful to me. That was easy to identify because though I had earned myself 3 promotions in 4 years, I had already identified that the only part of my job that gave any true sense of fulfillment, was the young professionals I was able to help become better professionals and better people and also accelerate their own careers. The “because of you” and “thank you” conversations were always most meaningful to me. Almost as if I lived for knowing i was able to have that kind of impact.

As I went through the process of self examination and self discovery, it lead me to the path of pursuing my coaching certification with the International Coaching Academy. I had not heard of coaching at the time. A colleague recommended it to me as she watched me help guide these young professionals who were accomplishing more than they thought they could have. That was happening while I was preparing to publish my first book.

I want to highlight that while I thought I knew myself well, the entire process revealed a lot to me about myself. As much impact as I had in the spaces I was in, I still didn’t know what I should be doing. Coaching felt like a fit to a great degree but I didn’t know what type of coaching, what niche to focus on and who I was really called to help.

In a session with a coach I had then, she spent a day just talking with me and she allowed all my interests to flow out of me, without interrupting. At the end of our time together she spoke about one thing that flowed out of me effortlessly and how I lit up and seemed energized by the topic. This had to do with leadership and helping young professionals understand not just how they secure promotions and raises, that would just be a byproduct, but in fact how they show up with a solid identity of themselves as leaders, understanding how they create change, impact lives and organizations. I discovered that it wasn’t so much that i didn’t know what area to serve in, it was more that I was afraid. I was afraid that I couldn’t produce the results for others outside of that industry, afraid that I would try entrepreneurship and fail. I had to unpack a lot of that.

When I launched my first coaching program in 2020, I was blown away that after one post on Facebook, I had an overwhelming response to what would be my beta group. I launched that program successfully and have since made that into a self paced course, that sells not just to people looking to develop their leadership presence but that companies have purchased for leaders they want to develop.

While I have offered a small collection of courses over the last 4 years, I am now heavily focused on women who are where I was. Women who are in a career and feel more calling them and have no idea what the more looks like or how to navigate the space from building a career to walking in their calling. I don’t provide a coaching program. this is an implementation and completion program.

I’ve also worked with a small number of companies that recognized the need to improve their recruitment and retention systems and invest in helping their decision makers make a greater impact and develop emerging leaders.

Those who know me know I am heavily invested in the success of those I work with. In the realm of leadership I have seen first hand the ramifications of having people who value systems and don’t value people. In the realm of impact beyond your 9 to 5, I know the pain of identifying, pursuing and building what you believe is calling you but not knowing where to start.

It’s hard to pick one thing to be most proud of because the journey is all connected. However getting started was a huge leap for me, because I was scared. I mean terrified and bursting into tears just thinking of some of the decisions I was making. On the other side of some of that I see that a lot of that was just me being limited in what I thought was possible for me. There was a moment in 2020 or 2021. I went to my desk at home to record some course content. My then 4 year old, walked up to me, went before the camera and introduced himself as a little leader and started speaking about what leadership meant to him. I can’t describe what that meant to me. I also think about my step daughter who now lives with me and who I took with me to a speaking engagement. Aside from her seeing me on stage and what that said to her 10 year old mind, being able to have her sit in rooms like that and hear at such a young age what some other powerful women had to share, I am immensely grateful.

I have an unquenchable desire to somehow make everyone and every space I touch better and as a leadership coach, I have been committed to developing people who go beyond their title and recognize they have an opportunity not just to impact the bottom line of a company but to change lives. I am committed to developing leaders who develop leaders.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn what I was socialized to believe in terms of the path to success.

There is not one path. There is no cookie cutter, one size fits all experience.

When I left my 20 year career, I was relocating to the USA permanently. My first book had been published and though the pandemic likely would have made starting a job in the USA at that time that much more difficult, I had already decided to work on my business. I ultimately reentered the corporate space after starting and while building my business.

4 weeks into that new job, I got a raise. 4 months in I got a promotion. Aside from once again proving my own system of career acceleration, it also caused me to have to get rid of the belief that my path had to look like something else.

I had to learn that if I needed to reenter the work space and continue building my business and continue serving, it was not only possible, but it was perfectly ok. I had thought for sure there was no way I would be able to work a fulltime job, at the level I do and still offer my services to companies that would need me as a coach and serve the women I am called to serve. I realized that was a lie.

I also had to unlearn the belief that if something didn’t work, that means I failed and recognize that failure occurred when I decided not to apply what the results were teaching me or when I decided to quit.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The natural planner in me that loves to know all my steps ahead, did not experience many situations in my first 40 years of life that had me even thinking about pivoting. I considered myself a master planner. I was always looking ahead and determining what my next goals are and what I need to do to achieve them. Sure sometimes the path did not look exactly as I thought it would, but generally, things seem to move in the general direction of my efforts.

Developing the ability to pivot in my life and career, happened really over the last 4 years as life presented challenges and opportunities. No doubt because of the global pandemic many people likely experienced a similar need to adjust and adapt.

At the very beginning of 2020, I had decided to end a 20 year long career. Really what I was doing was finally relocating to the US permanently, something I could have done before but I had valued the growth my career experienced with the company I worked for. However, I knew it was time to make some changes primarily for the purpose of ensuring certain options were available for my son’s development. By this time I had already written my first book, my son was 3 and with the decision to relocate, came a decision about whether or not I wanted to continue along the same career path or make a change. I had already felt something greater calling me for about 3 years. So my husband and i decided that he would continue working in the Bahamas, the country we met in, for a while more and I would relocate with our son and be present at home with him for that stage of his development and work on building my book and coaching skills into a business. Turns out I likely would have had to do that anyway as the pandemic forced a global lockdown which had obvious implications on job opportunities.

I got to work and in April or May of 2020 I launched my beta group for a Career acceleration course, showing young professional women how they create and build a leadership identity that fuels their success, the success of their teams and how they use that along with varied skills to secure promotions and raises. The program really was about creating the kind of impact in a company that makes you an asset they do not want to lose. My first launch I secured twice as many women than my goal was. The launch went beyond my expectations and taught me many lessons about myself and what I could accomplish by learning from those who have achieved the kind of success I aspire to in that space.

By the time I got around to the second launch we were about 7 months into the “lockdown” and the response to my second launch was just not the same. As the pandemic unfolded, so did the priorities of my target audience. The second cohort saw a decline in interest, a shift I attributed to the prevailing uncertainty prompting individuals to focus more on job retention and search strategies, than career acceleration. I knew I had to adapt and find new ways to serve my audience with integrity. I knew leadership. I knew how to build an award winning team. I knew how to help young professionals become better professionals and better people. I knew how to help them make their value more visible in an organization. So I had to assess what I knew and figure out what would be meaningful to that audience with all they were facing in that period.

In response, I introduced workshops that addressed the evolving needs of professional women during the pandemic. Recognizing the heightened importance of preparation for transitions, layoffs, and career changes, I curated a bundle named “Recession Ready.” Simultaneously, I offered tangential workshops, such as “Pen to Paper,” providing a roadmap for professional women to write and self-publish transformational books and how to achieve #1 rankings on Amazon.

In my personal life, I had gone from this woman who was very engrossed in her career and had in recent years worked on establishing boundaries so that I was present for my son and still delivering at a high level on my job. Life had now shifted to learning something i did not think I was innately designed to do well and doing that while having my young son at home. There were lots of changes and I learning to adjust quickly and not second guess my every decision in this new terrain was what I had to embrace most.

In the midst of it all, my introspective work one of the things that stood out to me about my own journey is that I was no longer building a career and serving the teams I had within that career. Now I was clear on this is how I am called to serve people and in building my business I had to continue to learn where these people are and what would be a way to serve them that truly impacts their lives. By this time companies had come across some of my social media videos and contacted me and that led to annual contracts to help their leadership team become more impactful and streamline their recruitment and retention efforts.

In 2023 I launched a workshop that developed into a program, “Career to Calling” was designed to help women along the journey of building impact and income that goes beyond their 9 to 5. I designed it for the woman who has her career but feels this void and longing that there has to be something more for her. I use my own journey in helping those women, identify their calling and implement steps that start to build it.

That same year my husband move to the USA with us. Simultaneously I reentered the workforce in the talent acquisition industry, while continuing to serve as a consultant and coach. My own experience once again confirmed the principles I had been coaching women on, because in 4 weeks I received a raise, unsolicited and in 4 months promoted to National Staffing Director where I now have a growing team of a dozen Staffing Managers who lead close to a thousand associates. This positions me to impact a relatively small group of leaders, in comparison to the size of my teams before, who now have the ability to impact hundreds of others.

So my life has gone from a pretty steady and consistent path for almost forty years, to a journey that in the last 4 years has now engrained in me the need to be resilient, aware, adaptable and flexible.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.marshaflemmings.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marshaflemmings/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marsha.flemmings/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marsha-flemmings-32049b70
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFQg-sNsRwkgTgey5k30W7g
• Other: https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Legacy-Strategies-Connection-Massive-ebook/dp/B09JRMQ2YV/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=3FDICLLQRO7EU&keywords=marsha+flemmings&qid=1636457692&sprefix=marsha+flemmings%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-3