We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dr. Maryann Rivera-Dannert a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Dr. Maryann thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risk taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I’ve taken numerous risks throughout my life. However, the most recent risk I took was leaving the safety and comfort of a job I loved in Austin, TX and returned back home, to Upstate NY.

I’m originally from Rochester, NY. In 2017 we made the decision to relocate to Central Florida. The one thing I absolutely loved about FL was the proximity to the beaches. During the four years in FL I made some great friendships, my business grew and I enjoyed my job. Once our youngest child moved out we took another leap of faith and relocated once again. To Austin, TX.

A lot happened and very quickly, that the initial move is still foggy. But I do remember finding my dream job! It perfectly aligned with my personal values and mission in life. It was a beautiful mesh of my passion, experience, skill set, and goals.

My mother passed away August of 2022 and I had to come back home, Rochester, NY. Being home, surrounded by my friends and more importantly, my family, I felt the nudge that I had to come back home. So I put some feelers out, found a job [although it’s temporary with the possibility of going perm], notified my current employer that I would be resigning and I left Austin. And to be quite honest, I’m still processing how I feel about everything.

Dr. Maryann , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I HELP WOMEN RECLAIM THEIR POWER!

I’m affectionally referred to as the Fearless Living Coach, and I’m the FEAR-less dealer every woman needs in her corner.

I am someone that is continuously searching for new pathways, fresh experiences and ideas, and I have a deep desire to inspire change and deeper fulfillment in other women.

I’ve faced a lot of adversity, instability, and dysfunction in my life. There was much stacked against me. However, I didn’t allow what happened in my formative years stop me from becoming who I am today.

In addition to being a Human Resource Professional, I am the recipient of degrees in Leadership (MS) and Organizational Management (BS). In June of 2022, I earned the title of Doctor, by receiving an Honorary Doctorate degree from T.I.U.A. Furthermore, I’m an 8x author, with five of my books reaching Best Selling status. I have written pieces of my life’s journey to be a role model to other women and have them see that all things are possible despite their beginnings.

In 2020 I launched the Fearless Fridays with Maryann podcast, which introduces the world to other fearless women as they empower, inspire, transform, and help other women shift to living their best life, today!

To pay it forward; and as my mission is to see women worldwide live a free, fearless, and fabulous life, I had the honor and privilege of helping other women to share their stories and become authors. My dream of becoming a Visionary Author has come true, as I’ve brought 20+ women together and share in my anthology project, which will be published late summer of 2022.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media is forever changing: with the algorithms all over the place and new platforms popping up and left and right – it’s hard. For those that have figured out, congratulations!

I think many entrepreneurs have a favorite platform and I don’t. I’m on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok. For a short stint I had Snapchat. Sorry kids!

I would say to do what works for you. Yeah, there are influencers I follow and love what they’re doing and how they show up and then I get tired just thinking about it all.

Four quick tips for building your audience:
1. Show up consistently
2. Be your most genuine self
3. Have fun
4. Decide what your goal is and post accordingly

Listen, at the end of the day it’s all about where your ideal client is and show up there. It may be on social media or it may be Starbucks, Target or the car wash. Just because it seems like everyone is on social media, doesn’t mean that you also have to be there – unless you want too. And if you honestly do, get a mentor, watch YouTube videos and remember the four tips above.

Any advice for managing a team?

In my business, I don’t have a team – not yet at least. But as an HR professional and leader, I can confidentially offer some nuggets of wisdom.

1. Get to know your staff on a personal level.
2. Have honest conversations.
3. Never, ever, ever discipline a staff member in front of others.
4. Remember the basics: please and thank you go a long way.
5. Ask individuals how they’d want to be celebrated.
6. Let people do the work they were hired for.
7. Have fun.

Over the years of working in various industries and companies, I’ve had the displeasure of working for some questionable folks. Conversely, I’ve had the honor of working for some amazing leaders and those leaders practiced the tips above, along with many others. People are willing to go above and beyond their job description when they have a sense of belonging and are respected.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.maryannriveradannert.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maryannriveradannert/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFearlessLivingCoach
• Linkedin: https://www.bit.ly/maryannriveradannert
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS5Edcfs9t_j2zlP6r6Y2Dw
• Other: Podcast: http://fearlessfridayswithmaryann.libsyn.com/website

Image Credits
MD Simmons and Production