Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kerstin Oleta. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kerstin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think it takes to be successful?
I find women give themselves the excuse and permission to be small in front of others to try to make whose around them feel more comfortable. The problem is that makes them more forgettable. As a performer, I understand the importance and impact of creating a powerful experience that lasts. I wanted to help businesswomen to deeply learn how to ingrain the importance of engaging their target market and encourage them to shine by giving themselves the permission to do it.
The biggest difference is the combination of posture that shows the confidence of a leader and facial expressions that make you approachable. Leadership is not just about corner offices and power suits; it’s about owning your space, literally. Whether a woman in is a leadership role or not, those two things up level her status in a room. Whether you are calling the shots or fetching the coffee, good posture and a friendly face can level up your status faster than you can say “promotion.”
My research lab in discovering this has been in the real world. I’ve been blessed with work with Fortune 500 leaders, studying how they engage others like a body language Sherlock Holmes. Working with Google and eBay Global gave me the opportunity to work with women in leadership all over the world. I studied the similarities between female leaders in different countries and demographics. This is what helped me to create the Body Language Strategy system we used for our presence training at the Business Leadership Excellence Institute. Body Language Strategy teaches women how to train their mindset and bodies together to exude the Body Language Success Pillars. These four pillars are confidence, competence, trust, and approachability. When you walk into a room exuding all four of these things, people naturally drawn to you as a leader and want to know what you have to say.
The biggest challenge has been women feeling that they are stuck and no matter what they do, they will always struggle with how they are viewed. Picture a room full of women, each battling their own inner demons. Sound familiar? The beauty of the trainings of Body Language Strategy is it’s a tool that can help women move past feeling that way by working both the mindset and the body language at the same time to produce a cohesive result of feeling confident and ready to lead, both on the inside and outside.
The power is always in posture and being expressive! Women who stand tall to their full natural height will show more confidence and exude authority in their expertise at a higher level. I made it my mission to teach these business-savvy ladies how to command a room without apologizing for taking up space.
How we all show up is the permission we give others to know how and why someone wants to do business with you. This is a universal concept that is immensely powerful in the human condition. I love what I do because creating the presence of confident leadership, no matter the gender, allows us to have conversations and to make decisions on an even playing field. The interactions stop being about whether you are a man or a woman and move it into how we all can bring our best selves to the table and make the best decisions together. This is how we can make a global change for women in the workforce by understanding, when we are giving this type of permission with our presence, the engagement in rooted in respect. In a world where gender norms are outdated, it’s time to level the playing field. Whether you’re a CEO or a stay-at-home mom, owning your presence is the ultimate game-changer.
The fastest way for women to uplevel their presence is to use magnetizing power of all the Body Language Success Pillars. The core starting point is always going to be posture to uplevel your presence with confidence. You can be kind, trustworthy, and smart but if you are not doing those things confidently, it’s all for not. Posture affects multiple things in the permission we give others of how we want them to view us. It affects the physical stature of confidence, but it also affects how well we breathe, allowing the inner body system to be more effective in getting oxygen to the brain to help us stay more focused and more energized. These are key components of what it takes to physically be and appear to others as a present leader. Your grandma was doing you a favor when she poked you between the shoulders and told you to stand up straight. So, ladies, good posture isn’t just for runway models and royalty. It’s the secret weapon in your arsenal.
This is why I started my passion project called the Women’s Leadership Coalition (one of the divisions of the Business Leadership Institute www.bleinstitute,com). It is a virtual international women’s group for ladies who are ready to move the needle of their business and their life. It is virtual table where women will gather, collaborate, and mastermind in excellence. WLC is designed to offer a space for collaboration between women in business, create a motivated and authentic referral network, and leave a positive impact for women around the world. We have the WLC International Networking meeting on the 3rd Monday of every month where I give a training on the Abundance Principles of how to incorporate a higher level of collaboration, develop an abundant culture, and live more courageously as a female leader. We also have a dynamic female speaker each meeting that is making a national impact with her message and work. On the first week of the month, we hold our small group masterminds hosted by our Certified WLC Facilitators, Christy Meaux and Brandy Hernandez. In the masterminds, we help our members to create actions steps in the Abundance Principles. We are dedicated to supporting our members to elevate their business and their lives. The Women’s Leadership Coalition is not just a club; it’s a revolution. From virtual hangouts to monthly masterminds, we are rewriting the rules and empowering women to be the bosses of their own destiny.
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.
I grew up in this greater Seattle area performing in choir and orchestra as a kid. In college, I studied Music Education and Vocal Performance. Once I graduated, I went on to do professional opera singing and open my studio teaching voice lessons for competitive singing. I taught for 30 years with many of my students continuing on to become professional opera and Broadway singers. I loved it when my students would come back to visit during their college breaks. After asking “How’s college life? How are your classes?” I had a few of my students say to me, “You know, I’ve been performing for years, but when I go to give a presentation in class, I feel like I’m freaking out and feel nervous.” I offered my students to come to the studio and take the performance aspects that they were comfortable with and put them into their presentation. It worked beautifully! After doing that, I went to watch professional presentations for my own benefit. I’m watching these “professional presenters” and I’m thinking to myself… these people suck! My college kids could run circles around these guys. The presenters weren’t doing anything to keep the audience engaged. They were not showing excitement, half the time the audience were checking their phones or falling asleep in the seats, and the presenter was their own audience member to their own PowerPoint. There was nothing happening between the presenter and the audience to keep the energy going. The excitement about the information was lost. The business world is drowning in dull presentations! That’s when I realized, there’s a need to help business professionals learn how to engage their audience and perform your information at a high and more concise level.
With more than 30 years of experience, I have acquired an in-depth knowledge of all levels of communication. I bring my unique skills, talents, and understanding of non-verbal communication and leadership to life to every coaching and speaking experience. I work with international speakers, bestselling authors, real estate professionals, and business executives in Fortune 500 companies.
I founded the Business Leadership Excellence Institute (BLEI) in April 2023. The BLEI is a cohesive elevated system designed to include something for every business owner looking to make a larger impact in their business.
The Business Leadership Excellence Institute houses three divisions of professional development training programs:
Body Language Strategy Academy – Executive Presence with Enhanced Body Language and Expression
business Leadership Success Academy – Business Design and Team Management
Women’s Leadership Coalition – Legacy Leadership for Women
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I had been working with Fortune 500 companies for many years coaching my clients virtually on Zoom for 7 years before Covid hit the world.
My speaking career was taking off and I had speaking engagements set up all over the nation for 2020. As soon as everything was shut down, I lost $60K in revenue over night because everything was cancelled with no idea of when things would go “back to normal.”
I few of my business colleagues were aware I had been using Zoom to talk with my clients and asked if I could help them to figure out how they could use it for their business to keep them afloat. I happily agreed. It went so well, word got out very quickly and I start doing trainings for companies on how to be effective with body language and processes to make their teams “Zoom Business Savvy.”
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
I feel speaking is the most impactful way to expand the reach of any brand. It has been very powerful for me in my business. I enjoy speaking for corporate events and women’s events to educate and train professionals the power of purposeful presence through Body Language Strategy and empowering women to step into their greatness as leaders.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bleinstitute.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kerstinoleta1/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=business%20leadership%20excellence%20institute%20-%20blei
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerstinoshields/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ71M0q2XiOEmhh9-crG8uQ