#TheTechHustle Podcast 🎙

Backstage with BobbyD featuring Lisa Patt-Sanchez

• BobbyD, D'Hustle and Raymond...don't call him RayRay

Share episode

The path to authentic leadership isn't about climbing corporate ladders—it's about discovering your unique purpose and lifting others along the way. In this captivating conversation with Lisa Pratt Sanchez, a veteran technologist who transformed from coder to executive to purpose-driven entrepreneur, we explore how leadership transcends job titles and organizational hierarchies.

Lisa shares the pivotal moments that shaped her twenty-plus year journey through tech giants like Citrix and JM Family, revealing how she ultimately found her calling by helping others achieve their potential. Her insight that "leaders are born" challenges the notion that we must wait for authority before making an impact. As she explains, "Leadership means taking control of things you're meant to control and embracing others while seeking growth for yourself."

The power of genuine connection emerges as a central theme throughout our discussion. Lisa recounts how mentoring a junior developer decades ago unexpectedly led to a significant business relationship years later—a perfect illustration that "your network becomes your net worth." This circular journey demonstrates how authentic relationships built on knowledge-sharing and support create foundations for long-term success in technology.

Most compelling is Lisa's framework for living a purpose-driven life, captured in her book "Working on a Project Called Life." Using the project management principles that guided her tech career, she provides a roadmap for discovering what we're truly meant to do. Her warning against being "busy with being busy" resonates deeply as she encourages listeners to stop waiting for perfect circumstances and start taking action toward meaningful work.

Whether you're just starting in technology or considering your next career evolution, Lisa's wisdom offers a refreshing perspective on success that values human connection over titles and authentic purpose over prescribed paths. Listen now to discover how to lead from wherever you are and create the impact you were born to make.

Support the show

🚀 Join the Hustle!

Speaker 1:

Leadership doesn't equate to where you are on the ladder right within an organization. Leadership means that you have the ability to take control of the things that you are meant to be in control of, to control how you react to certain things and then how you embrace others around you, how you help them while you're looking for something for yourself, because there's a lot of times that folks are like, well, until I get to this position, I can't help you, I can't. Leaders are born. We have this innate ability because we are human, like human, are relational, right and leaders are relational. So you can lead in your own right. Don't wait for perfect. Perfect will never come where you can share right, but also going out and seeking those people and those things that could feed what you are meant to do as well welcome, welcome, welcome.

Speaker 2:

I'm missing my guy d hustle today, man, it's it's like I I need him to help out with. But you know what? We're gonna have a great time today. Today I have a special special guest, um, and we're here backstage with bobby d. I'm your host, bobby d, obviously, and you know that the show is really focusing on bringing people that I have worked with, people that are part of my family, people that are part of my circle, to enlighten you all on the journey that they've been on, but also I'm trying to open up the doors for y'all in terms of knowledge-wise, so I hope y'all tuned in. We got a special guest for us today. We're going to have Lisa Pratt Sanchez come to the stage. What's up, lisa? Hey, bobby D, lisa, lisa, how you doing, fam?

Speaker 1:

I am blessed and glad to be here.

Speaker 2:

Oh my gosh and emphasize fam. This is family, right here. Family Family. Lisa and I go way back and we're definitely going to be talking about the journey, talk about the great things that you've been doing in our community, but I want to give you a quick opportunity to introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about yourself and then we'll jump right into our conversation. So tell us a little bit about yourself, lisa.

Speaker 1:

Hey, I'll say family.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes.

Speaker 1:

Folks that I connect with. We're a community. We are a collaboration of just greatness. So I'll say, hey, family, lisa Pratt Sanchez here. I have been around for a while, have been in the IT space for many years and are now in the phase where I'm enjoying all that I've learned and all that I've gathered. So my claim to fame I will say because you have to claim it right is that I'm a technologist that's focused on people. I coach and I consult with companies and with individuals.

Speaker 2:

That's awesome, lisa. Yes, she is a technologist. You've been around the block a few times, been around the block A few times, a few years, and definitely very appreciative of the people part, because I think sometimes when we talk about being in tech, they think it's only about coding, being at the computer and there's so many other things that you can do in our field of technology and still being able to make massive impacts to organizations and things like that for sure. So one of the things that is I'm so grateful for this opportunity to chat with you is a part of my family. Lisa is one of those that I've even run into at workplaces, yeah Right. So I don't know if you all know. Definitely check her out on LinkedIn and check me out on LinkedIn so you can see where our paths is across. But we had a good stint working you know, collab not directly but indirectly at Citrix Systems, yeah. So how did you like Citrix and tell me a little bit about that part of the journey for you?

Speaker 1:

Citrix was a great run right. I'm from New York and I've been in South Florida now for 20 years, and one of the things that I was a little bit hesitant on is where would my journey lead me from a technology space? I've been implementing in the ERP space for many years, specifically SAP, the ERP space for many years, specifically SAP, and Citrix was one of those companies that had SAP and I had my eyes on them. But I was busy consulting in other organizations and then the opportunity came for me at Citrix. They were looking for someone to oversee their reimplementation of SAP and they were looking for someone full-time. And this is a funny story about Citrix. I actually went in the interview because I wanted to stay a consultant in contract and so I went into a full-time interview trying to negotiate being a consultant for them that's how much full she?

Speaker 2:

she said they. They wanted me to be a full-time employee, but when I went into the interview I don't want to let you know I only take w9s, I only do w9s right.

Speaker 1:

So the funny thing is it was a great experience, great time. They were looking for someone because they had worked with others in the consultant space and they really wanted someone to be a part of Citrix. I'm glad I joined because at that time when I was there, culture was everything, people were everything, creativity was everything the ability to grow. Actually, it was there that my manager saw me and said to me you're going to be a great speaker one day.

Speaker 2:

You're going to do great things.

Speaker 1:

You are meant to lead and although I was in yeah although I was in a leadership position, I didn't see more of what he saw, and so that's kind of like what I want to touch on today when you and I talk is how do you look beyond the immediate what you're seeing in front of you, and how do you reach above that and allow others to bring you along the way?

Speaker 2:

That's a gem right there, because I think in our community sometimes we have difficulty seeing ourselves. Yeah, even when we're in the space right, and you and I both know most of the times when we're in that space it's only us, right and then you don't know that you're shooting like curry, right, and they have people on the bench that are like in awe of you, but you can't see it yourself, right? So that's, in terms of the journey, something that I think, um, I've also found out, like listening to what people are saying and and taking that in and then processing it and then really understanding like I have the ability, I have it, I have belief in myself. If they don't even know me like that, but they can see it. I mean, yeah, but they can see it. I mean, yeah, that's a gem right there.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, y'all need to make sure y'all rewind. So if y'all first time to the show, whenever you hear that sign, that sound, you need to rewind a little bit, don't you know the rewind button? Back it up a little bit. Take a listen to what lisa had to say, because I'm telling you it's gems, gems, gems. So I actually jumped in and you know how, back in the day they used to have the jump rope, hop, skip stuff, and then they say go and jump. I think I jumped too fast Because I didn't even get a chance to ask you how did you get into tech, how did tech become a part of your path, a part of your journey? And I know we're going to be diving into deeper, but I want to at least give you an opportunity to talk about that.

Speaker 1:

Sure Tech I've been doing since high school. So I went to a specialized high school in Brooklyn. Shout out to Brooklyn Tech Tech night for life.

Speaker 2:

Big shout out to them.

Speaker 1:

Yay, and I needed to choose a career, and computer science was what spoke to me. So I've been coding since high school and then when I went on to college I decided I wanted to be in the school of business and from there I pursued information systems and that was where my technology career kind of took off. Post-college I went into work for Ernst Young and the technology continued from there, so I was able to work initially as a developer.

Speaker 1:

I didn't like it, but I have respect for it because, that is where I was able to decipher and ask questions behind the question to get to resolving issues.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1:

And so that's been my bread and butter for many years in different facets.

Speaker 2:

That's what's up, lee.

Speaker 2:

So big, big, big applause for that.

Speaker 2:

Especially and this is the reason why I want to make sure we give some context to the beginning of your journey is our audience are going to be either college grads, new to the industry, looking for, you know, like-minded people or people that look like them, and the cool thing about when I have guests come on is when you tell us how it all began.

Speaker 2:

It resonates with them, because I also went to you know, a pathway of pursuing and understanding technology at a young age and then it carries on into my career development and it just more or less helps ignite if the fire is there. But keep it going, you know, because if I would have known more people like Lisa, right, if I would have had more examples of people that were pursuing technology and engineering, I think I would have been even more into it. So it's definitely grateful that you, you know, bring your story from the beginning and on this pathway, because I ran into Lisa at Citrix, but Citrix was only one stop on the train, right? So after Citrix, where did you end up starting working or kind of pursuing that path or continuing to work in tech?

Speaker 1:

Well, after Citrix what I did. So when I came to Florida I came with my Already I had my company and I wanted to do consultant contract work independent contracting, because I had young children and I want to be more in charge of my time and that's why I wanted to pursue Citrix as a consultant organization. But when I moved on from Citrix I went back into independent consultant and that led me through networking and doing good work at the company prior to Citrix, someone saying hey, you're available, can you come out and see if you can assist us with what we have going on. And that company happened to be JM Family and so JM Family.

Speaker 1:

I went in and I was a contractor. So, jm Family, I went in and I was a contractor and when I went in for the interview they said to me why wouldn't you want to come work for?

Speaker 2:

me.

Speaker 1:

And I said, well, you know, I was asked to come in to do consultant work, and so that's, I'm, I'm, I'm a person of my word, so that's what I'm going to do. And they said, well, you should consider us. Well, fast forward with that. I did get into full-time opportunity with them where I was able to oversee their PMO and work with the developers the software engineers, the solution architects yeah, a slew of resources similar to what I did at Citrix, but expanded to now.

Speaker 1:

Now I'm overseeing the group that provides the technology projects for our business, and so that's where it continued. And I was at Jamfam family for many years. Great company, great culture.

Speaker 2:

But again, you have to know what is it you're meant to do facts while you're here, and so that was a moment for me you need to know what you're meant to do while you're here. That is powerful, because I think sometimes we get caught up in the rat race nine to five, paying the bills, family and then we lose focus on what we're meant to be here to do. Right, like uh and and this is gonna I'm plugging something in that book, right, there is definitely giving you that pathway, uh, but in general it just for me, knowing that you're on your journey, you were not entry-level intern, you're at the executive at that level. Those are people that are in the circles that you're in and pitching to or giving updates on progress and projects and things like that from start to finish type stuff. So you definitely have had the opportunity to be in those circles.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

But even in those circles, or achieving that in your life, you still feel the need to acknowledge the things that are most important, like the thing that you're meant to be here meant to do. Right yeah.

Speaker 1:

Tell me a little bit about that. I'm going to go back to just something. You just said that, although you're in that circle right, I've been in the circle with leadership. One of the things that I do with people is connect, right. What's that connection point so being that I was overseeing the portfolio management office? Of course I have needs for resources that come in and I would see someone maybe I need a project manager, for example and they're coming in as a contractor and they would be blown away when I say to them I was in your seat how many years ago I started where you started, as a contractor.

Speaker 1:

So they understood that I'm not just someone that's just sitting over here, disconnected. I know and that's a connection point, and that is where I see at times when, as you go up the ladder for lack of a better word that sometimes you lose that connection with the doers and the folks that run your. You know your company.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Right and that is something that is always near and dear to me is how do you reach up but also reach back?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, right.

Speaker 1:

Because for me, that's what leadership is. I look for folks when I'm looking for mentors are folks that are here but they'll take the time to say yeah, lisa, you know what I'll bring you along the way with me, back and sharing. And you mentioned students that may not know or may not see themselves right represented in companies that we need. We need to do our due diligence.

Speaker 2:

Yeah yeah, as leaders, as leaders yeah, for sure oh my gosh, lisa, that that was definitely a gem, because the thing that I've always ran into is uh, I I've always felt like I didn't see as many people that were in that leadership role, um, to pull me up, um, but there are allies out there that recognize game, right, it's like hey, I'm, you can't hustle a hustler and they see it.

Speaker 2:

They'd be like, oh, they recognize game, right. So there's definitely allies out there that do reach back. But I think the principle itself that you can still resonate with those that are coming up like when you said, hey, I started off in coding and I started off like you, can resonate, relate with them right. It's not only like, hey, I'm, I'm pushing paper. No, actually, hey, you, you're using this library. I remember I used this library back in the days when I did this is like you're able to make that connection, to make that open, you know, for that mentorship and or, uh, uplifting and caring not caring, but supporting people as they're going through their journey. So a big shout outs to you and Lisa, uh, always dropping these gems. And y'all need to keep listening to some of these quotes, cause I'm I'm getting them, yeah. So I'll share something with you, bobby. We talk about coding right.

Speaker 1:

I'll share something with you, Bobby.

Speaker 2:

What's up we?

Speaker 1:

talk about coding, right, so I talk about when I started out, I coded, I was a developer, and when I went to one of my companies as a lead, a team lead, in the functional space because the functional space is what intrigued me right and requirements what are we doing?

Speaker 2:

How are we?

Speaker 1:

going to improve business processes Right, I love that. And there was a young lady that was a coder that came in and she was supposed to develop the requirements that I provided for her and first meeting going through the requirements, I recognized that this was new to her and I said to her do you know what I'm saying? And she's like, not really so. I'm like, girl, come on. So I actually we sat down and I became an informal mentor to her. 25 years later this person has been able to bring me into her company to pretty much present what I do to her leadership and help them on their journey.

Speaker 2:

Wow.

Speaker 1:

Connection, collaboration, reaching back Right, and I was just like we can relate, 20 years ago to where we are now. Yeah, Because I took the time to share what I knew.

Speaker 2:

And then her now needing a resource went back in and said Lisa, she's like I remember, I remember that look you gave me and I was so afraid, Right, and then you were there.

Speaker 1:

One of my biggest clients now Right, so amazing. I just say that it you know, it's not for not.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. And you never know For sure, and and that's the thing about leadership is that, uh, sometimes, when people feel like, as leaders, when we give back, we're expecting something right, but the thing is, is that we're giving because it's going to open up opportunities, not today, not tomorrow, years from now, yes, that that that one encounter uh, uh really imprinted into that person of your character and who you are.

Speaker 2:

um, and this is the thing I tell my mentees all the time, your net work will be your net worth exactly 100 because if, if and I'm not trying to toot my horn or nothing like that y'all y'all be watching the show a little bit, but if I need to get back into the market, I got people like lisa yes, I got friends and family that have been in the industry, that are there to support me, or even back in silicon valley, like I can get an email almost once a week, bobby, you, you ready to come back and, you know, go back and play at the court, type stuff.

Speaker 2:

But in general, the thing that I'm really taking from you here is, as we are growing and developing, always find a way to give back and support.

Speaker 1:

Oh, of course.

Speaker 2:

Because it will be paid 10, 20 times over for sure. Oh man, check out that gym slot for sure. So the next thing that I want to talk about in terms of your journey so we talked about citrix, jam families. Oh, and one thing about jam families these streets are small. In these streets, in our circle, right because low-key, I have one of my, my mentors, uh, technical mentor of mine that I have worked with, steven barrett. Big shout out what's up? Steven barrett, congratulations to you on his journey, because he's killing it. But I remember when you started, steven sent me a message like hey, do you know lisa? I was like lisa, who, like pratt's inches, I was like that's family, though, and I tell you as soon as I knew, as soon as I seen that and he's another black technologist, he's jamaican. So, uh, the down here in south florida we got a mix down here and when I heard that you were there, he was there. I was like man, they really got something going on. So a big shout out to that network connections.

Speaker 2:

And know, these streets are small, so be careful what you the bridges you burn, because you never know, but after you moved on to jam families, um, it'll sound like you took some time off and and or re-establish your consulting company, or tell me where is that at.

Speaker 1:

So where I'm at now. Yeah, I took, so when I decided to move on, it was Lisa taking care of herself.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I'm in a new stage of my life and I wanted to pursue those things that were gnawing at me, speaking to me like this is your time right.

Speaker 1:

This is now, and so I decided to go back and I've always had Gerions, my company, many years, and I decided I'm going to pursue that full time. And what does that look like? And what does that look like Coaching, consulting, connecting with people, and that's what I decided to do. And Jerrion's LLC is there and we are in the business of allowing people to be at their full potential.

Speaker 1:

And what does that mean? And what does that mean? That means that I'm working with individuals and companies that want to grow internally and understand that your people are your most important asset. Right people and your people invest in themselves, then we have a good marriage where we can continue and grow our clientele. Be that much better for our customer base yeah and so that's what I do.

Speaker 2:

I do business transformation on the individual or on your processes, or holistic as a company yeah, that's amazing because you bring the the 20 plus years of experience that you've had working Fortune 500 tech companies and then bringing it into a package that really like takes all the great things that you learn from each of them, all the experiences that you have, and then you can actually offer it in your own and your own consulting services and products oh I'm, you know, I'm on the sideline room for you, lisa actually offer it in your own and your own consulting services and products. Oh, I'm, I'm, I'm, you know, I'm on the sideline room for you, lisa.

Speaker 2:

so I'm always so, so excited to hear the stuff that you're working on, uh, because it inspires me too, right? I mean uh to me and no disrespect, but you're like senior to me, right? I look up to your journey and definitely uh appreciate uh you pushing your boundaries, because it gives me a new bar that is set right, and it's not like I'm competing for me. I'm like looking at it like in all and so much. All because I I've had these encounters, I've had these uh people come in and out of my life uh, but when it comes to lisa lisa's part of family so I know I'm always going to be there.

Speaker 1:

It's foundation Foundation. Right yeah, it's foundation. So what I respect and admire for you is your hustle.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much.

Speaker 1:

The tech hustle right, and what hustling is is reaching out and doing those things that there is a need for, it, right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And your hustle is one of those that you're not in your face. You're like this is me and this is what I bring to the table, and you see things organically happening yeah and what I love about what you bring to me is you're my one lateral holder.

Speaker 1:

Right for me to go up the rung is I need a firm foundation and I have people like you that are there holding me up. And then the other part is I could come down this ladder and come and hold yours as well, and I appreciate that Right, and so we have to do that for each other.

Speaker 1:

We talk about there is enough for everyone, but we don't really believe that, because folks hold things close and they don't share, and what you do is you share, and I love that about you, thank you so much and I just for this audience, because I see that I know that he will continue to be blessed and I know that doors are going to continue to open for him, because this is realness in real time and too often we as individual are not living the life that we are meant to. Out of fear, right a lot of fast talking about what it is we're doing or think we should do, because other people think that what we should do.

Speaker 2:

But when you take a step back and self-assess right and really come into the truth of who you're meant to be, then this is what the tech hustle is about right, thank you thank you so much, lisa, for that, because, um, you know, sometimes you put in a lot of work, um, and and for me, I'm not waiting for the pat on the back, right, because I got to keep pushing uh, but when I do get it, especially from respective voices, uh, I, I really do appreciate it because, uh, when I say family, you know from where my family first started, right 20 some years ago, um, and to see where I'm at as I'm continuing to push uh, you, you definitely uh have uh the the highest respect from me. When you say how you feel, and and, and I know you will tell me straight up, bobby, I don't know, I don't know about that, right, right, and I appreciate that because it's like a compass to me and it helps me make sure that, oh, I am heading in the right direction and or, no matter which way I turn, the compass is not going to lie to me and that's what I really respect about you. So, thank you so much for those kind words, and that should be a reason why y'all tell friends about me and keep tuning in. But the, the other thing that I'm so excited to talk more about, especially about the purpose in life, because, y'all. I don't know if y'all know, but y'all check the links below in the description.

Speaker 2:

But Lisa in my book is my favorite author. Let's give her a big round of applause. And your first book, uh, which is titled working on a project called life? Yes, tell us a little bit about that.

Speaker 1:

Um, and I know you have other things going on, but I definitely want to give you the space to talk about your book yeah, thank you, one of my biggest supporters yeah working on a project called life has been in birth in me probably about 10 years or more, and I let fear False evidence appearing real stand in the way of what I was meant to do, which was to write, and so I would jot things down. And I have gone to conferences where I was told this book, yep, you should go for it. And still never did because I got busy with being busy yeah.

Speaker 1:

Which sometimes, when we're busy with being busy, is not real work. It's just that we're overworking ourselves so we can overlook what's meant for us to do. And so working on a project called life, which means to lead in your purpose, invest time in your purpose, focus on what you're meant to do and ultimately execute. Now you can tell I'm a project manager working on a project called life facts so similar to.

Speaker 1:

We have. A project has a beginning and end, our life has a beginning and end, right? What do we do in between that? So, just to talk a little bit more, it is about executing on those things that are meant for you to do, and if you're stuck, how do you get unstuck? Follow the tools and the principle here. There is a spiritual undertone here, because that's just who I am, that's just how I'm led, and so I use that to enable individuals to go through their own journey of what that is for them. The book, what does it do for you? Is? It relates to others, and when you're asking yourself, can I? The coach in me will say I can, yes, you can, I can, yes, you can. And so that's what it's meant to do is to be a companion, to lead you in that journey of how do you get from stuck to going into what your purpose with and how do you execute on that.

Speaker 2:

Amazing, amazing, and and you, you, you hit the nail on the head with this book in terms of ensuring that we take that veil off from our normal and really embrace the things that were meant to be here for a purpose, right, and the reason why I enjoy your book so much is, like it's a guide, that I give this book to all the young ones that are around me to give them the insights on. Like, hey, if you pick this up early, right, you don't have to go through 20 years and and and working like I went through, and then finally get to the end of 20 years and you'd be like man, am I actually following what I really want to do, or am I just paying these bills, you know, or trying to maintain a lifestyle? That's survival mode.

Speaker 2:

Right that's survival mode right, I'm surviving. And then this lifestyle in terms of a framework. You even have a framework. Uh, that's called life. Uh, lead, invest, fulfill and execute. Right, it's like having these tools will ensure that you're utilizing, or utilizing the skill that you have that's meant to be your purpose to its full potential. Because I see it all the time like I see, uh, someone does something like oh my gosh, you don't know that that's hard for everybody else, but it's so easy for you that that's right, that's your gift. Uh, for me, speaking and talking on stage, whenever I get up there, it's like I'm I'm playing, right, or being at computers and and being so intrigued and understanding how stuff works, it's because I'm playing and that's my purpose and I need to continue to pour into that.

Speaker 2:

So much so, yeah, I get to go hang out with the big leagues and do things. But the book itself if you have the opportunity, I'd highly encourage you to read the book. There will be links below, because we're always going to plug in, lisa for sure. But the thing that I really take away from it is the frameworks, the worksheets, the way that you articulate your journey, because that's the part that's so inspiring to me and it definitely uplifts us as we go. So, congratulations on that book, thank you, I'm looking forward to it. Outside of the book, you also do public speaking, mentoring and stuff like that.

Speaker 1:

Tell me about your speaking and and why is that like some, uh, not a noon avenue, because I've always known lisa had it, but it's more or less, uh, including your portfolio in terms of yeah, so speaking is one of those things that is part of what I have to do in my career right, leading projects, as bobby mentioned, speaking with executives, speaking with my team, encouraging my team, and so one of the things that I've always done when I moved to Florida was connecting with organization yeah as a project manager.

Speaker 1:

I signed up immediately for South Florida PMI, which has supported me in my journey. I've played many roles at South Florida PMI, which has supported me in my journey. I've played many roles at South Florida PMI, but they have invited me out to speak at their conferences and I was able to do that while I was working at Citrix and at JM Family. These aren't paid things. These were just things of me giving back to an organization and to a community that supported me.

Speaker 1:

So my way of supporting them and as I continued to do that, folks would come up wanting to be mentored. And when I decided to move on in my career, I signed up with other groups from a speaking perspective and I've been able organically I don't push necessarily, but organically just folks knowing the work I do have asked me to come in to their companies or organization to speak yeah, that's what I mean.

Speaker 2:

She's been dropping gems on our show. Well, what do you think everybody else is going to see in here, as they're going?

Speaker 1:

right, it's been good yeah and I'm also a part of uh south florida pmi toastmasters. So for anyone that has a fear of public speaking or just want to be more expressive. Find a toast master group. It will do wonders for you, oh, yes, for sure, 100 000 percent.

Speaker 2:

Um, one of, uh, our members of our podcast, raymond don't call him ray ray, what's up, raymond?

Speaker 2:

uh, he's also been a part of toastmasters for years, uh, and I think he's a part of, like, the, the board and stuff like that but in terms of just skills development, um, he's an amazing speaker, right, um, and and he, he, he follows more of like uh, the more comedic side of it. But if you just think about the skill set of speaking, being able to go off the cuff, introduce yourself, making sure that you're asking the right question in a way that really conveys your thought is important, especially in the spaces that you're in right.

Speaker 1:

Exactly.

Speaker 2:

So big shout outs to Toastmasters. Yeah, and I did have one question what does PM stand for?

Speaker 1:

pmi project management institute awesome, awesome, awesome.

Speaker 2:

So if you are into project management, I would definitely has an interest in learning more about it. Yeah, yeah, and those are organizations, uh, throughout the nation, right, oh yeah international, yeah, international word worldwide roger that, roger that.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for uh closing that loop, because I was like pmi about to go type on my laptop real quick, uh, and, and what it is is that our audience are are, um, not as versed in some of these terminologies. So I use it all the time too and I'd be like, and then raymond would be like, uh, but what does that really mean?

Speaker 1:

yes, no, thank you for asking, yeah there's no dumb questions, right no, you have to get clarity so that you understand it.

Speaker 2:

So the next and I believe our last somewhat segment coming up is you've been giving advice all day. She's been dropping gems all day during the conversation and, like I mentioned to you, in terms of just our audience are growing in their career. Some of them are thinking about getting into leadership, but the question that we have here is what advice would you give to those balancing career growth, leadership and living on their purpose? So it's kind of like encompassing your whole journey and obviously folding in the book, but just what advice would you give to those that are pursuing career growth, leadership and living their purpose, to those that are pursuing career growth, leadership and living their purpose?

Speaker 1:

First of all, ask yourself the why, right, the why and the what. What is it I need to be doing and why? A lot of times and you touched on it before is that there is a specific path that's laid out. If you want to be in technology, you have to do these things, or you have to go to this school or you have to. That's not necessarily the case. The reason why I love the Tech Hustle and why I wanted to be on the podcast because I see what Bobby brings to the table.

Speaker 1:

Folks that come in that's been there, done the journey, learn from them. So get those type of insight. But then look at what resonates with you and what you can commit to, as opposed to what everyone wants you to commit to. And that's what I would say. I would say as far as, if you have a desire for a specific field of interest, go and find yourself mentors. In my college years, in my professional years, if I go and I meet someone and there is a connection like, wait, I could learn more from that person. I'm that person that says, hey, can you be my unofficial mentor? Is it okay if I check in with you every now and then? And most times, it's a positive reaction right.

Speaker 1:

So you can learn and glean from others. And then I would say, if you've never done it and you think this is what you want to do, try it out, check it out right, figure out ways of how you could kind of tap in and see what would this mean for me and how can I do it? Yeah, Right. And leadership doesn't mean leadership doesn't equate to where you are on the ladder right within an organization. Leadership means that you have the ability to take control of the things that you are meant to be in control of, to control how you react to certain things and then how you embrace others around you, how you help them, while you're looking for something for yourself, because there's a lot of times that folks are like, well, until I get to this position, I can't help you, I can't.

Speaker 1:

Leaders are born. We have this innate ability because we are human, like human, are relational, right, yeah, yeah. And leaders are relational, so you can lead in your own right. Don't wait for perfect. Perfect will never come. So look for opportunities where you can share, right, but also going out and seeking those people and those things that could feed what you are meant to do as well. That's you taking leadership in your own life. So there's just it's. You know, as you say, I'm seasoned.

Speaker 2:

I caught that. He says no disrespect.

Speaker 1:

After all these years, you can only be who you're meant to be, so be you. Facts, facts facts, that's it, just be you.

Speaker 2:

That's what's up, lisa, and, yeah, it's an eye opener, and let me tell you, you're mentoring me right now. It's an eye opener, um, when, when and let me tell you you're mentoring me right now, by the way, that you're conveying this and, and definitely, uh, um reaffirming my thought process, but also um, closing any holes or gaps that I have. And that's the most powerful thing about you know, the podcast. Like you said, I'm bringing on guests that have been here for a while. You've heard and seen their journeys, and all, every single one of my guests are here to give knowledge and give information. So, um, I want to first of all give you a big round of applause. Thank you so much, lisa, for pulling up, hanging out with the tech hustle this is as real as it gets.

Speaker 2:

I love it yeah, and don't forget, if y'all hear this sound right here, that means to rewind back so you can catch them gems that Lisa's been dropping. And yeah, we're going to get close to the end of our conversation, lisa. You know we're going to keep going afterwards, but you know they don't need to hear everything we're talking about. I love it.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much, Tech Hustle. Thank you, Bobby D. I appreciate you.

Speaker 2:

Roger. That Lisa. Well, thank you all so much for tuning in to Backstage with Bobby D. We have our guest Lisa Pratt Sanchez. Check out her book. Working on a Project Called Life. I'm telling you gems, gems, and don't forget about checking out all those spots that we're going to mark in our video. Here Again, this is your boy, bobby D Holla.