The most important position in your career is the one you're in right now. The question is, do you want to maximize your potential and get ahead, or stay where you are? Having an executive career path is not easy, but it can be incredibly rewarding and fulfilling. Our STANDOUT guest Yvonne Robinson-Jackson is an Executive Career Coach. We will discuss how to make your next move and become the leader you were meant to be.
Key Takeaways:
The strategies to help you take your career to the next level
How to successfully pivoting your career
The importance of mentorship in leadership
Plus much more...
Connect with Yvonne Robinson-Jackson:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/careercoach-yvonnerobinson/ | https://goalinspiredcareercoaching.com/
Become The Leader You Were Meant To Be:
Get the copy of the book STANDOUT From The Crowd: https://www.thesmartwmn.com/standoutbook
Connect with Darine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darinebenamara/
Listen/Subscribe to The STANDOUT From The Crowd Podcast:
Spotify: https://postly.link/f36
Apple Podcasts: https://postly.link/SMR
Castbox: https://postly.link/WW8
YouTube: https://postly.link/CXx
Other episodes you may like:
How to Achieve your Highest Potential
How To Defy The Odds Against You And Achieve Your Success
Change: The Ultimate Test Of Leadership

Is the media still a good avenue to promote your thought leadership? If you want to be seen as a thought leader in your industry, you need to find ways to dramatically increase your visibility. Of course this is easier said than done. But there has never been a better time to STANDOUT From The Crowd and increase your influence. Our STANDOUT guest Jennifer Singh is a former TV reporter turned media expert and entrepreneur. She is the CEO of She’s Newsworthy, a company helping women entrepreneurs land TV appearances so they can be seen and heard. Join us as we discuss what it takes to get national media attention for your business, the attention that will increase your visibility, influence, impact, and your income.
Key Takeaways:
The most effective strategies to get media attention
How to increase your brand awareness
Identify and create media partnership opportunities
Plus much more...
Connect with Jennifer Singh:
www.linkedin.com/in/shesnewsworthy | https://www.instagram.com/shesnewsworthy
Become The Leader You Were Meant To Be:
Get the copy of the book STANDOUT From The Crowd: https://www.thesmartwmn.com/standoutbook
Connect with Darine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darinebenamara/
Listen/Subscribe to The STANDOUT From The Crowd Podcast:
Spotify: https://postly.link/f36
Apple Podcasts: https://postly.link/SMR
Castbox: https://postly.link/WW8
YouTube: https://postly.link/CXx
Other episodes you may like:
How To Reinvent Your Personal Brand
From Unknown To Renowned
How To Build Real Influence and Visibility on Linkedin

Inclusivity is a word that gets thrown around a lot. But what does it really mean? Diversity, equity, and inclusion are (finally) increasingly being understood as an important driver of positive impact and business results. Even more important, DEI ensures that people find dignity and respect when they show up for work every day. Our STANDOUT guest, Laura Didyk is a long-term advocate for diversity, inclusion, and small businesses. Laura is the Vice President of Client Diversity at BDC, she leads the bank’s national approach to support Canada’s diverse entrepreneurs, including women, Black, and Indigenous: helping their businesses, and our economy, thrive.
Key Takeaways:
The 3 key elements to get into a leadership role and build a successful career
The benefits of prioritizing inclusivity in your organization
Ways to take action on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace
Plus much more...
Connect with Laura Didyk:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauradidyk/
Become The Leader You Were Meant To Be:
Get the copy of the book STANDOUT From The Crowd: https://www.thesmartwmn.com/standoutbook
Connect with Darine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darinebenamara/
Listen/Subscribe to The STANDOUT From The Crowd Podcast:
Spotify: https://postly.link/f36
Apple Podcasts: https://postly.link/SMR
Castbox: https://postly.link/WW8
YouTube: https://postly.link/CXx
Other episodes you may like:
Leading Through Change
How To Defy The Odds Against You And Achieve Your Success
Change: The Ultimate Test Of Leadership

Are you leading the change in your industry? We live in a world of perpetual change and the ultimate test of leadership is creating positive impacts that propel an organization forward. Change is constant in any industry and the media industry is no exception. How do you build the present and prepare the future generation to take over an industry that has so much power in our society? Our STANDOUT guest, Shannon is an incredibly dynamic woman, a highly motivated and transformational leader who has flourished and continues to make an impact in the media industry for many years in a variety of roles. During our conversation, she is going to share her passion as well as her contribution to the success of global brands including media brands and executives.
Key Takeaways:
The importance of self-advocacy as a female leader
How to stay ahead of the curve when change has become the "new" normal
How to build a successful career in the media
Plus much more...
Connect with Shannon Lewis:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/snlewis/
Become The Leader You Were Meant To Be:
Get the copy of the book STANDOUT From The Crowd: https://www.thesmartwmn.com/standoutbook
Connect with Darine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darinebenamara/
Listen/Subscribe to The STANDOUT From The Crowd Podcast:
Spotify: https://postly.link/f36
Apple Podcasts: https://postly.link/SMR
Castbox: https://postly.link/WW8
YouTube: https://postly.link/CXx
Other episodes you may like:
How to Become The Best Version of Yourself
Aligning Your Purpose With Your Leadership
Leading Through Change

She is one of the most powerful women in Tech. She went from being an immigrant woman to being one of the most powerful women in Tech in Canada. Our STANDOUT guest, Nouhaila Chelkhaoui, is going to share with us how her immigrant journey helped sharpen skills that have been critical to her career and entrepreneurship success. Nouhaila is the Founder and CEO of “Scale Without Borders”, a venture she started to help immigrants find success in tech.
Key Takeaways:
Finding your own path and aligning with it
The importance of chasing your dreams with a focused approach
The key to achieving success and fighting the odds against you
Plus much more...
Connect with Nouhaila Chelkhaoui:
https://scalewithoutborders.com | https://www.linkedin.com/company/scale-without-borders/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/nouhailachelkhaoui/
Become The Leader You Were Meant To Be:
Get the copy of the book STANDOUT From The Crowd:https://www.thesmartwmn.com/standoutbook
Connect with Darine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darinebenamara/
Listen/Subscribe to The STANDOUT From The Crowd Podcast:
Spotify: https://postly.link/f36
Apple Podcasts: https://postly.link/SMR
Castbox: https://postly.link/WW8
YouTube: https://postly.link/CXx
Other episodes you may like:
How To Become The Best Version Of Yourself
How To Achieve Your Highest Potential
How To Turn Your Challenges Into Profit

While you may still be pushing hard to close 2022 successfully, the coming year could be a transformational one for you personally and professionally if you approach it with an openness of introspection. So, in order to make 2023 better than 2022, you would probably have to make some changes. These include changes in your habits, mindset, beliefs, etc. Join us on the next LIVE episode of STANDOUT From The Crowd as we talk about it with our STANDOUT guests Robert, Tracy, Christen, and Bobby.
In this episode, you will learn:
Tips and advice to make 2023 the best year yet
How you can improve your life and happiness
What you are going to do TODAY that will set you up for success in 2023
Plus much more...
Learn more about our STANDOUT guests: Robert Berry, also known as That Audit Guy, helps auditors communicate better through questions. He spent the bulk of his career as an auditor where his primary job was to ask questions and evaluate processes. He has helped companies save millions by simply asking critical questions. After a while, he realized that this superpower was suitable for auditing, business professionals, and personal endeavors.
Tracy Borreson is a Personal branding coach, and here is her story. I never had one space where I belonged when I was growing up. I always flitted between a whole bunch of spaces. I wasn’t a cool kid by any stretch of the imagination. But, I was on the sports teams (basketball and volleyball), and the cool kids were on the sports teams, so I fit in ENOUGH to be “safe”. I wasn’t an artist, but I did paint watercolor, and dance. So, I fit in ENOUGH there as well, although I was never a top performer. I primarily identified as a “nerd”; I loved school and I learned all the things that I could; so much so that I took an EXTRA Academic Challenge class “for fun”. That made me fit in with the academics ENOUGH, but I was the only one who traded study time for softball practice. And so, I got good at being who I needed to be in any given space. A Jack-of-All-Trades per se; if each “trade” is a part of my identity.
Christen N. James, also known as CJ, is a Side Biz Coach and Host of The Shine to FIVE™ Method for Side Hustlers Podcast. She is a Certified Life Skills Coach and Certified Master Mindset Coach with BA in Psychology and Certification in Solution-Focused Therapy. She created The Shine to FIVE™ Method Coaching system to help women-identified professionals push past mediocrity and challenge the status quo so they can SHINE in their OWN Businesses. With her 3D Exit Strategy™ (Decide, Dedicate, Depart), CJ helps her demotivated clients heal and feel successful in their OWN Businesses so they can break up with their Employee Mindset and confidently walk away from their unfulfilling 9 to 5.
Bobby Umar, I've been a leadership development consultant, speaker & coach for over 25 years. My expertise is PEOPLE—their motivations, passions & frustrations. His area of expertise includes: showing leaders how to leverage LinkedIn & develop their personal brands, showing companies how to build Thought Leadership with compelling content & powerful stories, and for individuals, how to build meaningful relationships, mindset & confidence in speaking.

This year has been anything but ordinary. It has also proven to be a year of resilience. As we are turning a new corner, we are reminded of this year’s pivotal moments and their lessons. Join us as we're going to talk about it with our STANDOUT guests Sri, Robert, and Melane.
In this episode, you will learn:
The lessons learned in 2022 from our guests so you can capitalize on it
How to get prepared to welcome the coming year
Practical tips to make 2023 the best year yet
Plus much more...
Learn more about our STANDOUT guests: Sri Mahabir, in spite of her camera shyness, Sri Mahabir was determined to share her story and the stories of other entrepreneurs. In April 2020, Sri created the IG live series Journey of an Entrepreneur." After interviewing 100 entrepreneurs, she realized her passion. Sri helps solo entrepreneurs and corporate professionals be able to face their camera shyness and help build visibility for their brand and business. Sri is a remote producer who offers a done-for-you service for taking your live-streaming idea from concept to execution. Designing the flyers and background, producing, and turning it into a podcast.
Robert Berry, also known as The Audit Guy, helps auditors communicate better through questions. He spent the bulk of his career as an auditor where his primary job was to ask questions and evaluate processes. He has helped companies save millions by simply asking critical questions. After a while, he realized that this superpower was not only good for auditing, but for business professionals and personal endeavors.
Melane Mullings is a successful entrepreneur, cancer survivor, former registered nurse, founder of Aere Management Consulting, and an award-winning, #1 bestselling author. Melane’s cancer journey provided her with a deep understanding of the foundations of success which she extrapolated to her first entrepreneurial venture in the healthcare recruiting space. Thirteen years after establishing and operating her nursing recruitment firm, Melane successfully sold her business and shares her unconventional, yet proven strategies to success in her #1 bestselling book: 'Lemonade! Squeeze Your Challenging Life Experiences Into a Successful Business, and through her Business Management Consulting practice, Aere Management Consulting.

Let’s begin our look back at what made 2022 such a special year. A year that was filled with opportunities, optimism, breakthroughs, power-packed partnerships, success and also lows, setbacks, and weird moments. 2022 was a year of more change and new challenges and we're going to talk about it with our STANDOUT guests Rollis Fontenot III, Marian Balogun, Veronica Safoa Owusu, and Charlene Brown.
In this episode, you will learn:
The importance of intentions for a positive impact
How to cherish the present and be grateful for it
Some tips and advice to make 2023 the best year yet
Plus much more…
Learn more about our STANDOUT guests: Rollis Fontenot III is a national speaker, live stream host, author, Forbes Business Council Member, and founder of HR Maximizer Inc, the only subscription-based talent acquisition service of its kind in the US that helps healthcare organizations attract qualified applicants on the hardest-to-fill jobs primarily using a proprietary combination of video creation, technology, and a collaborative team approach. He has appeared in Forbes Magazine, ASHHRA’s Pulse, Locum’s Life, and other publications. His firm has produced dozens of live shows and hundreds of videos with over 3 million views that have led to thousands of qualified applicants including clinical and provider roles.
Marian Balogun is an Independent Marketing Communication Consultant. She helps clients Power Up their Brands, she is a high performer that excels at helping clients bring their brands to life. Marian has over 10 years of experience in public relations and brand management. She started her career in the Foremost Public Relations company in Nigeria and held agency and corporate roles prior to starting Power Up Your Brand Consulting, (formerly Alpha Brown Communications) in 2019.
Veronica Safoa Owusu is a former teacher with 85,000,000 hours of teaching experience in course creation, program development schemes, and inspiring her students to become better versions of themselves. She is also a deep dive mindset coach and was voted top 50 most impactful leaders on LinkedIn. In her V-IMPACT Course Creation Academy, she takes you through an empowering step-by-step process to accelerate your online coaching/consulting business to the next level of impact and income by unearthing the profitable you and packaging your GOLD DUST into a premium, transformational online course that sets you apart from the rest and sells to impact.
Charlene Brown is a website architect transforming DIY struggle sites into Digital Marketing Powerhouses for consultants, coaches, & speakers with purpose-driven website strategies. She helps remove the confusion of technology, web development, and web design and she has a passion for assisting her clients with elevating their businesses into high-performing, focused, and visible brands. She helps those who hire her launch strategically designed & profitable websites.