Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:11] Speaker A: Welcome to the Victory Show.
Hey victors. Welcome to this episode of the Victory Show. If this is the first time you're joining us, I'm Travis Cody, best selling author of 16 books. And I've had the privilege of helping hundreds of business consultants, founders and entrepreneurs write and publish their own best selling books. As well as in that journey, I've discovered a fascinating pattern. Most businesses hit a revenue plateau, usually around a million dollars a year, and they really struggle to break through it. So on this show, I sit down with some of the world's most successful CEOs, consultants, leaders and business owners to uncover the strategies they use to overcome those plateaus and scale their businesses to new heights. So more importantly, you can do the same. So get ready for some deep insights and actionable takeaways that you can implement in your life, business, your life and business, starting right away. My guest today is Sulika Cuevas. She's the founder of Global Woman Leadership, where she equips career driven women with the skills to own their careers, master executive presence and break through leadership barriers, whether they're climbing the corporate ladder or stepping into entrepreneurship. From Fortune 500 boardrooms to high growth, high performance startups, Sulika has coached leaders at companies like Citibank, Allstate, top global firms to their own careers, negotiate their worth, and lead with impact.
Her work is rooted in transformation, not just in titles, but in how women show up, lead and clean their space. And the best part is her superpower is helping women to step into their own power, own the room so they're not invisible, and land leadership roles with unshakable confidence. Suleika, thanks for being here so much.
[00:01:49] Speaker A: And we'll get into your journey here a little bit, but we mentioned this when we were chatting here just a little bit ago about the, the.
I don't think many people realize sort of how common it is for a woman in a leadership position, especially in a Fortune 500 or especially a Fortune 100 company, to be in a room and feel invisible. Can we just talk about that a little bit?
[00:02:15] Speaker B: Yeah. I think, you know, as women, you know, lacking of confidence, that imposter syndrome. And I'll say that is common.
Sometimes we step into an environment, but we have all the skill sets, we have the competencies, yet we struggle with, you know, we're unsure if we truly belong here. And a lot has to do with that mindset, that acknowledgement that, yes, I, I belong here, I own, I can own the room and I have the expertise it takes to make contribution in the Space.
[00:02:59] Speaker A: So what I find interesting is my work with people. I would say that there's a lot of men that also have imposter syndrome. I just have a feeling that when they get into the C suite levels, a lot of them mask it with narcissism and ego.
[00:03:14] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: From my own experience there. So let's talk about your little bit journey. You're very accomplished. You've got multiple degrees.
Did you set out at a young age to like, hey, I'm gonna be an executive in a company? Or how did your path take you that way?
[00:03:31] Speaker B: Very interesting. As I look back at my path, you know, one of the things that my father taught my sisters and I is that education is priceless. Right. And so that's something that I'll always remember. And that's why, you know, I have these degrees. Right. To back it up and to lead with that through a professional career.
But I. Throughout my experiences, one thing that I learned is that I have the knowledge and experiences behind me to sort of help other women, empower other women.
And I don't know how I have been able to get this confidence.
It has always been embedded in my soul.
And that's one thing that I'm not afraid of. I'm not afraid to make connections. I'm not afraid to own the room. I'm not afraid to step into that.
That environment and say, hey, I have something to say. Let me have a voice in what I'm saying. And I trust in my ability to step up and add and empower others and add solutions where I think it. It needs to be. But I believe that my experiences has equipped me to fill in the gaps well.
[00:04:52] Speaker A: And I. I know, especially in the corporate space, mentorship, finding somebody that's up the ladder from you, mentoring you, helping you groom them.
It seems like those opportunities are not as prevalent for women. So it sounds like what you're doing is trying to come. Come in and fill that gap a little bit.
[00:05:12] Speaker B: Absolutely. And as. As being an HR in the leadership development space, I led mentorship sponsorship programs. And, you know, I have to tell you what I've seen as a result of these programs and how they have been empowered after these programs by giving them the tools that they need. Not just the tools, but the strategies after, you know, these programs. It takes them from, you know, just being in a room to owning the space. And so that is the gap that I. I feel because I've seen and witnessed the wonderful skill sets that these women need and deserve.
[00:05:59] Speaker A: So that's interesting. I've Never heard.
[00:06:03] Speaker A: Companies having.
[00:06:06] Speaker A: I guess, structured mentorship and what you said, sponsorship programs. Can you walk me through a little bit of how that works and what that looks like?
[00:06:13] Speaker B: Yeah, And I love the word that you said. You, you mentioned the word structured. Right.
We are not taught very early that, you know, that there is a structure, that there is a strategy. We're not taught that. Right. A lot of what we get into these positions, we're promoted from, you know, managerial to a leadership without. Without having the structure in place or the strategy in place on how to be a leader. Right. And a lot of it is really.
[00:06:50] Speaker B: Taking initiative. A lot of it is about reaching out to others, developing relationships. A lot of it is partnering, collaborating. Well, how does one do that if one isn't showed how to. Right. And so, and it's also too, being in, in the space where there is influence. Someone that can take you under the, you know, their arm and just say, hey, let me show you. Let me lead you. And if you're not raising your hand to say, hey, I'd like to be part of that, then you're really not exposed to that environment. You don't even know that you need that.
So when I coach someone.
[00:07:32] Speaker B: I am giving them a strategy because they're not aware that a strategy needs to be in place.
[00:07:40] Speaker A: Well, you know, and from the standpoint of a leadership as well, like, how do you. You'd mentioned earlier, right. A lot of times men are promoted based on potential, and then women come along and like, you don't have enough experience.
So, you know, how, how are you get over imposter syndrome? The fastest way is to have someone above you being like, hey, it's okay. So, right. You made a mistake. Hey, it's okay. You can do this, you can do that. Right. That. And suddenly those voices go, oh, okay, I'm not the only one. Like, this is person is pointing me. So the, that, that's fantastic. So what are, what are some. Do you like, do you have some, like, cool success stories of people that have gone through these programs and yeah. Tell to walk me through where they were at when they started and kind of where they got to over the course of the. Whatever the program was.
[00:08:29] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, I have seen talented women who wait for opportunities to happen.
So, you know, they, they, they, they have the skills and competencies they need to advance, but they don't understand that. It's that lack of confidence that's holding them back in place, that's holding them from moving forward.
[00:08:51] Speaker A: And I think you could say too Depending on the culture they raised up and what part of America they raised up into. Right. There are a lot of communities where a woman should be seen, not heard. Right. So you take that into the business space and you're waiting for the opportunity because you're like, no, no, don't speak up. Right. So now you're, you're also dealing with a cultural thing as well that goes through. Yeah.
[00:09:12] Speaker B: Yes. And I love that as well. I, I teach at New York University, specifically intercultural Business Communication, and we are the students to. To understand how to work with various cultures. But more importantly, we, we teach them to understand themselves. It's about self awareness and understanding how to navigate various cultures. And what one finds out about that is that there are many cultures and you hit it on the nail that because of their background, they aren't quick to say, hey, I would like to take the lead in this project or that project, or I make decisions based on a group and not so much because.
[00:10:07] Speaker B: I'm empowered to do it that way for myself.
[00:10:14] Speaker B: We have to understand that. So I teach global leaders as well, that they must understand the cultural mindset.
[00:10:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:21] Speaker B: In order to move to.
[00:10:23] Speaker A: That is so important. I'm working with a woman right now who grew up in India and she, she's risen up to C suite and she's writing a book because she was talking about how what I just shared is in America. And she was like, no, no. Where I grew up, it was like, if the woman spoke up, like your dad smacked you in the face, it was like, shut up. Right.
You have one job, get married and have kids. That's it. So when she came to America and went to school, like, her family disowned her and they were like, how dare you embarrass us by going and be successful worker? And she talked about how the first 10 years of her careers of like, trying to navigate that cultural pressure and like stigma. Right. And then getting through that. And like her whole book was, she's. Now she's going back to India and teaching workshops for Indian women going, hey, here's how you break through that. That's really, it's really fascinating to me. So let's talk a little bit about the data in.
[00:11:16] Speaker A: When these programs come in and companies take an.
A concerted effort to mentor, you know, everyone, not just particular whatever. Like what do you have any data that shows, like, what's the end result for the company when they do that in terms of growth or success or pay rates or.
[00:11:38] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I don't have the specific numbers, but the day. The data proves that when we.
[00:11:46] Speaker B: Focus on women.
[00:11:51] Speaker B: It'S just surmountable. Right?
Because again, we lack the. The networks, we lack the board of directors.
We're just not exposed to those communities.
And so when we put a strategy in place, and again, we have specific programs. When I was working for Citibank, I was the vice president of Talent and Diversity.
[00:12:21] Speaker B: In which I designed and executed a global talent management strategy.
And in that, we ensured that leaders had the capabilities they needed to operate in those spaces. As leaders, we would give them a direction and an execution of a global talent management strategy in order to.
In order to provide growth for their division or department.
And it was a way of retaining our diverse talent pipeline as well.
So these are the things that I was charged with within that division. And.
[00:13:07] Speaker B: The data doesn't lie. The data. The data pointed us in the direction that this was a strong gap that needed to be filled.
[00:13:15] Speaker A: From your work.
Are many of the bigger companies putting more attention on this to try to help start closing those gaps?
[00:13:22] Speaker B: Yes, yes. And so, again, if we leave with the data, a lot of the work, that's where it originates from. And when you look at the data, that's when you can put these pillars in place, all geared towards, you know, hiring the right people.
[00:13:40] Speaker B: Making sure that our people stay with us.
[00:13:45] Speaker B: And that our leaders are inclusive.
[00:13:48] Speaker A: You know, it's so interesting. Like, the thing that occurs to me that didn't until just now, which just kind of, I guess, shows the state of how American I am, is when you're talking about Citibank, right, You're talking about these initiatives. And unfortunately, right now in the United States.
[00:14:04] Speaker A: All these things have been politicized to ridiculousness. But Citibank isn't just an American company.
It's, you know, it's global.
So when you're talking about diversity initiatives, we're looking at this as a global spectrum from things. And, you know, here in the States, everybody's like, no, but right here. And you're going, this is such a tiny little piece of what this company is doing and how that then spreads out into those communities and changes everything. So.
[00:14:31] Speaker A: I love the fact that part of the thing you identified is the confidence factor.
[00:14:37] Speaker A: In this show. And some of the people that I've talked with.
[00:14:43] Speaker A: One of the questions I always like to ask is, what prevents people from scaling past a point? And one of the things that's come up a lot is CEOs that are running very successful businesses go, hey, if you're a leader, of a business, one of the biggest things that holds you back is not being able to let go of stuff. You want to control everything. A lot of times I think that comes from the imposter syndrome, the confidence issue.
So let's talk about confidence in terms of entrepreneurship, because obviously there's a confidence in the boardroom and being an executive, but there's a whole other game we've got to play with entrepreneurship. So what can you tell us a little bit about that with the work that you've been doing?
[00:15:24] Speaker B: That's, that's, you know, the global woman leadership. That's our foundation to be the CEO of your career. And we.
[00:15:33] Speaker A: Great tagline. I love it.
[00:15:35] Speaker B: Thank you. If you've heard of self entrepreneurial, entrepreneurial mindset, you'll understand that it is teaching one to think and act like a leader, like an entrepreneur, to not only own the space, but to create the space.
So if you've looked at any one of my videos, I, I empower others to that. There are 10 steps in not only building your brand, showcasing your. Your value, but marking yourself like an entrepreneur.
[00:16:10] Speaker A: Let's walk through those 10. Now you got me curious. I want to hear them.
[00:16:13] Speaker B: I love to. So the first is shift your mindset. Mindset. Shift your mindset. And that's about reframing fear and fueling it with confidence, like the energy you need. It's all about how you look at things, right?
Strengthen your inner belief, visualizing success. A lot of us don't know how to turn that negativity around and control that big muscle that's in your brain. Right?
[00:16:43] Speaker A: What's interesting, I'll cut you off. We'll get it. But like that, that's one of the things if, if you've read Arnold Schwarzenegger's biography that he said, the only reason I got into where I was is he's like, I have my, my one superpowers. I have the ability to clearly visualize where I want to go.
And he just released a new book, and they said, why are you releasing this book? And he said, for the last 15 years, I'm going around talking to college students, asking them what's the vision for their life? And they don't have one.
[00:17:08] Speaker B: Yeah, you're just touching such a, like, such a nerve in my soul because that, that's what it's all about, right?
Investing in yourself.
Put. Put energy around. Like, you know, many women, I. I'll give you this one thing they don't believe in. You know, they're the last ones to Develop themselves and they put their family first. Right.
[00:17:29] Speaker A: Everybody else first.
[00:17:31] Speaker B: Right. But take the, the, the time, the energy to invest in yourself and you know, it's all intentional. Leadership is intentional. And that's about growth, having that growth mindset.
The other is think like a CEO and it's all about your brand. So a lot of us know to go on LinkedIn, but LinkedIn is the storefront. You know, you have to think of it as your storefront and how you're.
[00:17:59] Speaker A: All just a little store in the Giant Mall.
[00:18:01] Speaker B: Right, exactly.
And then it's be solution oriented. So, so when you are in a meeting, if you're in front of executive leaders, if you're on an interview, speak in terms of solving problems.
Right. Just don't come to talk about yourself. That it really is about solving.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: That's a very masculine trait.
But the funny thing is, right, it's uncomfortable, like. So I'm bringing this up from my context just in my marriage, my wife is, you know, she's not that I'm very solution oriented to the point where my wife sometimes will come to me and be like, I'm going to share something with you. I don't want you to solve anything.
Just listen to me.
[00:18:39] Speaker B: Right, right.
[00:18:40] Speaker A: But in a, in a corporate setting, if you're a woman going like, here's how we're going to solve this. Guys are going, solution. I love it. My brain's going, perfect, absolutely.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: And you've got to think in those terms. Right?
[00:18:53] Speaker A: So this is a, this is like you and for women, especially in the corporate world, this is like a whole new skill set. That's not natural for your biology. A lot of times it is not.
[00:19:05] Speaker B: And that's why it needs to be a strategic.
[00:19:10] Speaker B: You have to showcase your passion statement. Do you have one?
[00:19:14] Speaker A: Okay, I don't like to explain that to me. That's a, I like that one statement.
[00:19:18] Speaker B: So I'll, I'll give you mine. Okay, so. And I start off with my name and then you have to know, you know who you're serving. Because when you know who you're serving, then everything else flows. Right?
So I empower ambitious women and young adults because I'm an educator to build this unshakable confidence to master high stakes communication. Because I teach communication and adopt a CEO mindset so they can stand out, land their dream job and become the powerful high impact leader they were meant to be. Now there's a lot packed into this passion statement, but once you know it, then you can walk into any role. You can Network effectively, and you'll have a dynamic conversation. Does that make sense?
[00:20:10] Speaker B: Oops, I lost you.
[00:20:14] Speaker B: Can you hear me?
[00:20:17] Speaker B: Travis?
[00:20:22] Speaker B: Travis.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: Travis.
[00:20:54] Speaker B: It.
[00:21:35] Speaker B: Travis.
[00:21:50] Speaker B: Travis.
[00:22:06] Speaker B: Travis.
[00:22:27] Speaker B: Travis.
[00:22:44] Speaker B: Travis.
[00:23:07] Speaker B: Travis.
[00:23:07] Speaker A: Boy, I don't know what happened there.
[00:23:10] Speaker B: What happened?
[00:23:12] Speaker A: I don't know. You're right in there. I was like, this is good stuff. And then poop.
[00:23:16] Speaker B: That's okay. I was talking about the showcase. Your passion statement. Did you hear my passion statement?
[00:23:23] Speaker A: Yes, and got right to the end, and then that's where it cut off. So it was good timing.
[00:23:30] Speaker A: There were. We'll just edit this back on there. So sorry about that.
I don't know if you were using Zoom yesterday, but there's some. Some challenging issues with Zoom yesterday as well. So the passion statement is great.
And. And what you shared was fantastic.
[00:23:44] Speaker B: No, but what I was saying is as long as you have an effective passion statement, you can use it to walk into a room, network with others, and have this wonderful conversation. It defines you, and it gives you the courage to just tell people what you're all about.
[00:24:04] Speaker A: So how does this passion statement look like for, let's say, a woman who's in a vice president spot in a Fortune 500 company?
[00:24:11] Speaker B: Well, I would. That's one of the things I walk her through. So I would tell her, you know, what's the one word that you. You are passionate about?
So let's say she.
[00:24:25] Speaker B: You know, I can't. I can't make things up right now, but the one word she's passionate about, who's her target audience? Right. Then I would take. Take her through to define what do they want or need?
[00:24:40] Speaker B: And then ultimately, how would. How will they be transformed? And by the time we're done with that conversation, she will have her passion statement.
[00:24:50] Speaker A: Oh, that's great.
[00:24:51] Speaker B: Isn't that wonderful?
[00:24:52] Speaker A: That resonates with me so much better than saying, oh, I have an elevator pitch or my personal mission statement. Like, that's so.
[00:24:59] Speaker B: No. And if you need one, we can work together. Travis.
[00:25:02] Speaker A: Yeah, we're gonna have to. I mean, need a passionate. It's just so much better. Because who doesn't want passion, right? Versus, like, mission? Again, you know, we're in a very masculine society, so mission driven. Right. But I'm like, I don't want to be mission driven. I want passion in my life.
[00:25:19] Speaker B: It's that. But it's also too fine tuning what your brand is about. It's all about coming up with a powerful brand that you yourself as a business owner can resonate to. But hold on. But at the same Token, you're fulfilling the needs of your target audience. It really keeps you focused.
[00:25:39] Speaker A: Well, it's really. I just love the perspective that you're putting on this because most people, when they're in a corporate setting and they're in a leadership role, they don't think of themselves as a brand.
And so bring. Bringing branding into you as a leader is, is fantastic. I mean, that's such a, a great concept. And I, I would think that if you've got a modicum of skill sets, that's then what makes it, you know, you, you become the person that's getting poached because of the other companies are like, we want that person. Offer them more money.
[00:26:09] Speaker B: Absolutely. And so now as a founder, you know exactly your worth, you know exactly your value.
And so again, it keeps you on that path.
[00:26:23] Speaker A: Okay, so what advice would you have then to, let's just take this in stages. Let's take this to a woman who's just, just graduated with her master's degree from Columbia, is going into the corporate world. What advice are you going to give her about this next three to five years?
[00:26:42] Speaker B: One is to join my program, of course.
[00:26:47] Speaker B: I would say, you know, in all honestly, honesty is to.
[00:26:54] Speaker B: Be the CEO of your career. So, you know, leadership is not something that that's just given to you. You have to be in front and demand that you're worth it. Right.
And the only way that's going to happen is if you exhibit unshakable confidence.
Number two is I would say, you know, again, build a very strong career brand.
Right. And so you have to understand how to do that.
You've got to under you.
You know, I'm always taking my clients on a strategic journey on how to do that.
And they cannot fulfill this journey if they don't understand how to, you know, where their strengths and their skill sets are coming from.
They have to understand what their own stories are and be able to communicate that effectively.
And they have to strategically plan their career journey. They have to say, well, I want to get here, but what do I have to do within the next month, the next three to five months, and then just reverse engineer it where it's almost a daily, weekly goal.
So that's my advice to them.
[00:28:25] Speaker B: And, and, and then lastly, I teach them. You got to know who you are, you got to know what you stand for and how you want to show up.
And so that's, that's what it's about.
[00:28:38] Speaker A: So let's expand that out. Now we've got somebody that's 10 to 15 years into a career and maybe it's not going the way that they want.
So how do you take a woman in that position? Maybe she's stuck in middle management, but she wants more.
How do we, how do we, how do we engineer a pivot?
[00:28:58] Speaker B: How do we engineer a pivot? Well, I would first take her on and find out from her what are the challenges that she's undergoing right now.
You know, it really is about first doing an assessment, you know, how is she perceived within her company.
[00:29:16] Speaker B: What, you know, what are others saying about her?
And start from there. And then once I, I received that, then it's about understanding, you know.
[00:29:30] Speaker B: How does she communicate her value internally and how are others receiving it?
What I usually do is the, one of the first things, and you might find this not to be significant, but what I first ask them is, do you have a sort of a journal?
And it's not just any journal, Travis. It's a journal based on her individual career achievements.
And so I. To take me through that.
[00:29:59] Speaker A: So it's like a business yearbook. It's like a career yearbook.
[00:30:03] Speaker B: That's right. Take me through that. Because when you have that, that sort of not only increases that, that, that mindset, that confidence in your abilities no longer, you know, you wiped out this imposter syndrome. Now you can talk about, you know, your strengths. Now you can tell, you know, leadership. All about the impact, because it is about the impact you've made within the time that you've been there, whether it's a month, three months, a year. And so that is what I stop with.
And then, you know, tell me what their stories are. Tell me about a time when we're always going through, you know, the situations where you had your, you know, your challenges and your barriers and, and that's what we start with. So.
[00:30:54] Speaker B: And I have a strategic program that I take my, my clients through.
[00:30:59] Speaker A: And let's talk about that, because when I was going to ask, like if somebody's listening to this and they're going, oh my gosh, I need this, like, how does someone get in touch with you? How do they find you? How do they work with you?
[00:31:10] Speaker B: Well, first of all, if you're not seeing me being on LinkedIn, you're just not there.
[00:31:15] Speaker B: I'm not afraid to be this, you know, I do have a.
[00:31:19] Speaker A: Wait a minute. You're not afraid to speak up in the public spectrum?
[00:31:22] Speaker B: No, I'm not. In fact, I absolutely love it.
But I do have a, an online Presence. It's a 12 week live career Acceleration program.
And I say live because when I touch the human spirit, we have dialogues and as women that's what we're good at. Like we just love to be in the room and have conversations. Not just any conversation, but strong dialogue where we're connecting. Right. So to have that is just, it's just not that. But what I do is I take them through six steps in this program. One, again we're going back to be the CEO of your crew career, which is that leadership mindset shift and you know, reframing their, their, their mindset and then again visualizing success.
Number two, I then talk about how to build a powerful brand at work.
Right. So we take them through that passion statement, that whole thing. Right. Number three, then we're really giving them the tools and step and tips to for executive presence and communicating in a way where it's high stakes communication, where they are negotiating their worth, where they are proving why they should be a leader and owning the room. But it's also about how they're being perceived. Right.
[00:32:50] Speaker B: And then just instead of being overlooked, we want them to, you know, go on a journey where step by step they're able to achieve this result and that result. So I take them through those steps of career acceleration strategies.
[00:33:07] Speaker A: I love it. So best place to find use on LinkedIn.
[00:33:11] Speaker B: Best place to find me is LinkedIn. Yes. And then certainly once you go on my LinkedIn page, you will see my email right there in the banner. So and stay tuned for my videos because I love just touching basics for that video.
[00:33:28] Speaker A: So that's Sulea Cuevas on LinkedIn.
[00:33:31] Speaker B: Yes. Okay.
[00:33:32] Speaker A: This has been a fantastic conversation. I love, I always like to end every conversation with three personal questions. So if you could go back and this is going to be a good one for you, if you could go back in time and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be and why?
[00:33:47] Speaker B: It would be believe in, in yourself and your abilities. It's not going to be given to you.
[00:33:55] Speaker B: Create your own opportunities and own your value.
[00:33:59] Speaker A: Own your value is great.
So what mindset or belief shift in your own life's had the biggest impact on your success?
[00:34:09] Speaker B: Honestly, it's thinking like a CEO.
[00:34:13] Speaker A: And what does that mean to you, thinking like a CEO? What does that look like?
[00:34:17] Speaker B: It is managing my own career in a strategic way. And so if it's not working in one place, then we need to, we need to be self aware and almost come outside of ourselves and look at our career. Where is it taking us? Where do we want to want to be. It's about having vision. And so if what you're doing right now is not leading you directly to that vision, then we need to restrategize. So it is about taking strategic steps.
[00:34:48] Speaker A: That's it. I've never heard anybody talk about what makes a CEO a CEO, but strategy is that's so, that's so interesting.
[00:34:55] Speaker B: All right.
[00:34:56] Speaker A: And the f final question is what is the best investment? Because we talked about earlier, you got to invest in yourself. What's the best investment you've made in yourself?
[00:35:05] Speaker B: Going to conferences? I would say I just, you know, I am empowered by, by a community of confident women who want to share their own experiences and share stories. And so I love to be. That's how I'm empowered and that is my growth mindset.
[00:35:31] Speaker A: I love it.
This has been a fantastic conversation. Thank you so much for being here. I've enjoyed our chat.
[00:35:39] Speaker B: Likewise. Travel.
