We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Debbie Lundberg a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Debbie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
Since being able to present powerfully in written and verbal communication, with all audience sizes, is a confidence-builder that can assist everyone in successful endeavors personally and professionally, it was exciting to take my experience from the automotive industry and combine it with the facilitation and coaching passion gained from adjunctly teaching a world-renowned course for 10 of the 14 years in corporate to create an organization to provide opportunities for individuals and organizations to engage in personal and professional growth, so the business Presenting Powerfully was launched. It was exciting to begin, and also exciting to get fully established. While the plan was originally to start my practice at 40, with the support of my husband, I retired from my executive role, had a huge retirement party, and went fully into coaching and consulting followed by books, keynotes, strategic facilitation, teaming, training and emceeing! It was rewarding to get to be behind the scenes providing tips and tools for others to be and do their best!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
How you present is how you are remembered! So, as the 2006 founder & CEO of the Florida-based National firm, Presenting Powerfully, I combined her 14-years of automotive leadership, adjunct facilitation running simultaneously for 11 of those years, and extensive schooling to embark on this business endeavor for passionately and purposefully enhancing 1) communication, behaviors & relationships, 2 leading & leadership, and 3) emotional intelligence & kindness through the following four offerings: Keynotes & Talks, Strategy & Facilitation, Teaming & Training, and Coaching & Consulting.
As a 12-time published author, certified virtual presenter, certified life coach, certified leadership coach, and certified image consultant, I am a performance coach who writes a monthly business etiquette column for Tampa Bay Business and Wealth magazine. Additionally, I get to co-host The Business Of Life Master (TBOL) Class Podcast. My 2020 book, REMOTE WORK ROCKSTAR, quickly became the guidebook for working and leading virtually! A quick dose of my approach/philosophy can be seen in my 2020 TED Talk “Who Cares? You CARE!”.
In addition to other service organizations and boards I am serving, I was asked to join the Tampa General Hospital Patient and Advisory Council in 2020 after my kidney donation to a woman in need in Tampa Bay. Along with that, I have been fortunate to have been featured in the Kidney Donor Athlete community. Now I serve to mentor others who want to be living donors, including my husband, Michael, who donated 6 months later.
My talks, classes, and workshops on kindness made me an excellent fit as a Kindness Attendant for Kindleigh’s worldwide Kindness Community. The 2021 book, LIVING KINDLY, became an Amazon Bestseller in the first week it was published, and there, my Share Your Spare story, is one chapter among 12 other international authors. Imagine my honor of delivering a second TED Talk “Be the K-I-N-D of Leader Worth Following”, in 2021 getting to share 4 aspects of being kind!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Absolutely! At age 19, at the University of Michigan, my roommate and I were social directors and also worked in the library. A woman from the house came into the library to ask a social question, and I told her to go do a couple of things and get back to me for an answer. Something in her eyes told me that my approach was not the best, so I immediately asked my roommate “Do people do things for me because they like me, or because they don’t want to make me mad?” She very quickly responded with “Nobody wants to get on your bad side.” Right then, in that library, I decided to change, I started reading and researching leadership and life’s enjoyment, communication, and relationships in order to become the person I wanted to genuinely be. With that beginning and subsequent efforts that I deem life-long learning, I am a fully recovered perfectionist focused on true engagement with lasting impact. It is so much more fun being this way, as perfectionists live in two states of mind: satisfied and disappointed, and there is very little joy. Now, I have so much joy and enjoyment, and for that change, I am grateful!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Being raised to be very competitive, I had a lot of success in school and in sports, so it seemed as though winning was the most important thing, and unlearning that was a worthwhile challenge in that I now know and get to coach others that comparison to others can be crippling, and life is a game we can all win, and nobody has to lose. Competing to be your best self is the best way to not only move through experiences and build relationships, it is truly the best way to navigate life and have a relationship with yourself!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://debbielundberg.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debbielundberg/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DebbieLundberg
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbielundberg/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DebbieLundberg
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwcwxQKw0Aw&t=2s
- Other: https://debbielundberg.blogspot.com/